American Disney Story: Freak Show
by belleoftheopera
Summary: Jupiter, Florida, 1952. When a freak show comes to town, it affects the lives of both the townspeople and carnies alike; some for the better, others for the worst. Very loosely based on American Horror Story: Freak Show by simply borrowing certain ideas. Please r & r.
1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Jupiter, Florida, when Quasimodo looked out at the park below him from his view of the church's bell tower. It was always bittersweet for him when he did this, as he loved watching all the people going about their lives, but at the same time wishing he could leave his tower to join them. He was hideously deformed, with a big bulge over his left eye, a broad, flattened nose, big teeth, massive arms and hands, hobbled knees, and a huge hump on his back, making him shorter than most twenty-year-old men. Due to his appearance, his caretaker, Judge Claude Frollo, refused to let him go outside.

As he watched, he noticed something going on that he had never seen before. Dancing in the middle of the park were two Romani, a male and a female, passing out flyers. He wished he could watch them dance from up close and see what they were advertising. Maybe this could be the perfect excuse to finally step outside, he thought. He figured that since Frollo wasn't around, it wouldn't hurt to go outside, grab a flyer, and run back in, as long as he wouldn't find out. He went inside towards the stairs, ready to make a run for it, when a tall, imposing figure stood before him. "Good morning Quasimodo."

"Good… good morning Master," he stammered back.

"And where do you think you're going at this hour?"

"No… nowhere, sir. I was just going downstairs to see if you were coming."

"Oh, dear, impatient boy. How many times have I told you that you're not aloud outside of your tower?"

"Many," he answered, sounding defeated.

"That's right. You're a smart lad. Now, breakfast," he said sitting down at the table, removing his black fedora to expose his grey-haired, balding head. Quasimodo went to get the plates and cups while Frollo started pulling out the contents of his basket. When he sat down, he placed before him two croissants, some butter, grapes, and wine. "So tell me," Frollo said as he poured the wine, "how have you been?"

"Good," he replied, spreading butter on his croissant.

"Really? Because you seem awfully distracted. Is there something troubling you?"

"What? Oh, of course not. How about you? Anything exciting happening at work?"

"Not really. I did recently convict a con man who claimed that he could help people using 'voodoo,' or some nonsense like that. Granted he was colored, so of course I found him guilty." After twenty years of being raised by him, he wasn't surprised by his blatant racism anymore. But he always wondered why if he was so prejudiced towards everyone who didn't follow societal norms why he had voluntarily decided to take him in, as he was left abandoned on the church doorstep as a baby. "But enough about me. You don't want to hear about my boring job. What I want to know is why you keep looking outside."

"Huh? Oh, no reason. It's just a nice day today, that's all."

Frollo glared at him suspiciously before standing up and heading towards the balcony. "I know you want to go outside," he said looking straight ahead.

"Whatever do you mean?" Quasimodo asked, approaching him.

Frollo whipped his head, glaring at him. "Don't play stupid with me, boy!" he snapped. Quasimodo cowered. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "It's just that I don't understand why you want to go outside so badly. After all, I've given you everything you could ever need, and apparently it's still not enough for you. You don't know what it's like out there, but I do. The world is cruel and wicked. I'm just trying to protect you."

"I know."

"So then what is it that has captured your attention so much that you would risk giving all of this up just to go outside?"

"It's nothing."

"I know when you're lying to me Quasimodo."

"Okay fine. I saw a couple dancing in the park and I was hoping that I could go down so I could get a better look."

"Hm, let me see this dancing couple." Frollo made his way to the edge of the balcony to look over, Quasimodo following behind.

"Right there master, look." He pointed to the Romani below.

Frollo tightly gripped the stone as he looked over. "Don't you dare move!" he exclaimed as he turned around and quickly headed out. "I'll be right back."

Down below the female continued to dance while the male passed out flyers. "If you like what you see here before you ladies and gentlemen, then come on down to Clopin's Cabinet of Curiosities! We have people of all shapes and sizes who are dying to show off their skills and oddities to you, as well as more dancing from the lovely La Esmeralda here!" Frollo stormed over from the church to them. "Good morning sir," Clopin greeted, bowing as he removed his hat. "Is something troubling you?"

"You're damn right something's troubling me! How dare you infect this land in the presence of the house of God with your heathen ways!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! As if you parasites weren't bad enough, you go around encouraging innocent people to be exposed to your abominations of God!"

"What did you just call us?" Esmeralda demanded, marching over to join the two men. Before she could get any closer to Frollo, Clopin grabbed her and pulled her back.

"For your information, my carnies are not 'abominations of God;' they're outcasts that men like you have deemed unacceptable for society. All I've done is simply given them a home and a job."

"And just what authority do you have over us here anyway? Does this park belong to the church across the street? Have we imposed on private property?"

"Well, no… but…"

"Then who owns this place?"

"The public… but…"

"Then you have no authority to kick us out of here as we are doing nothing wrong. We know our rights, and just because you don't like what you see doesn't mean that your bitching and whining is going to get rid of us because there's nothing you could do."

By this time Esmeralda was practically pressing against Frollo's face. Clopin grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back. "Esmeralda," he spat as he whispered loudly, "stop it! The last thing we want to do here is make any enemies."

"Your friend is right Esmeralda," he responded with a wicked smile, "It would be unwise to have me as an enemy." His smile faded as he snatched the flyers from Clopin and headed back to the church, crumpling them as he clenched his fists.

Back in the tower Quasimodo watched the whole scene below but couldn't hear what was spoken. When he heard Frollo approaching from the stairs he ran away so that Frollo wouldn't know that he was being watched. "What did you do?" he asked upon his return.

"I tried to get those gypsies to leave, but I couldn't."

"Were they doing something wrong?"

"As if having them around wasn't bad enough, they were trying to brainwash people with this." He pulled out one of the flyers and threw it on the ground.

Quasimodo opened up the paper to read the flyer. "'Clopin's Cabinet of Curiosities?'"

"A freak show. Just when I thought that this town was safe from corruption, the plagued and wretched make their way here to invade their sinful forms upon us!"

"You mean, monsters like me?" he asked timidly.

"Yes Quasimodo. That is the life that I've always protected you from. A lifetime of misery and burden, exposing yourself to those who seek entertainment from your ugliness, having people stare at you and laugh at you and mock you. At least here you're safe from their cruelty."

"But do you think that maybe we could possibly go so I could see those people like me? Just knowing that I'm not alone would make me feel so much better about myself."

"Trust me Quasimodo, you're better off alone. You have to accept that no matter what no one is ever going to accept you, whether you're hidden away up here or showing off your looks for pennies. Now I don't want to hear another word about this. Do as I say and stay in here. Remember Quasimodo, this is your sanctuary." He turned around and walked out, leaving him alone.

"My sanctuary…"

* * *

Huh, that was weird, Belle thought as she watched the old man storm off after shouting at the Romani couple.

She had come into town to return a library book and get a new one, but because she was a frequent patron there and had checked that one out twice already, the librarian had let her keep it. She wasn't in a hurry to go back home, so she had decided to go read at the park and enjoy the fresh air. When she arrived she saw the Roma woman dancing and playing her tambourine, so she decided to go watch. While she was watching, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, causing her to gasp and turn around. Standing behind her was a thin dark-skinned man with shoulder-length black hair and a beard. "Good morning miss," he greeted, taking off his hat and bowing to her.

"Good morning sir," she responded cautiously.

"You seem like someone who would be interested in the strange and unusual, yes? Someone looking for a change in her boring life and would like to see new and exciting sights?"

Her excitement perked up as he had described everything that she was feeling. "Yes, exactly!"

"What if I told you that you could find what you're looking for right here in Jupiter? All you would have to do is go to the far edge of town until you find the signs leading you there."

"But where and what exactly is this place?"

"It's right here," he replied, handing her a flyer. "Everything you need to know is all on this piece of paper."

"'Clopin's Cabinet of Curiosities; A showcase of people from around the world of all shapes and sizes filled with song, dance, and sights like which you've never seen.'"

"Tonight is our grand opening. I hope to see you there Miss…"

"Belle."

"Miss Belle. Such an appropriate name for such a beautiful lady like yourself." He took her hand and bowed again, kissing it. He smiled at her as he let go before they parted ways. She sat down at the park's fountain, looking over the flyer she just got. She always hated living in Jupiter, finding it to be such a small provincial town, wishing that she could go on adventures or living more exciting lives like the characters in her books. But now there was finally going to be a change in town. She knew she had to go to this show and experience something different and special for once in her life.

Belle was in the middle of reading her book when she heard something that caught her attention. She looked up and over at where she had gotten the flyer when she saw a tall, thin man throwing a tantrum like an idiot at Clopin. The woman dancing had stopped and went up to try and fight him, but Clopin held her back. The man grabbed all the flyers before heading back to the church across the street. Belle couldn't help but roll her eyes at the whole thing. Probably some radical religious bigot, she thought. She never understood how some people could be so intolerant and judgmental just because of a person's differences. She always felt torn when it came to feeling like an outcast. She never really had any friends as she was always reading and everyone always thought she was weird, but she was always praised for her physical beauty, as if that were the only thing important about her that mattered.

She was still reading when she saw the lighting over her book change from an approaching shadow. It wasn't until a giant hand slammed down on the book, pushing it into her lap that she finally stopped reading. "Hello Belle."

"Good morning Gaston," she replied, not even bothering to look up at him. He grabbed the book out of her hands and started flipping through it. "Gaston, may I have my book please?"

"How can you read this, there's no pictures!"

Belle stood up, crossing her arms. "Well some people use their imagination."

"Belle, it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things…" He tossed the book over his shoulder into the mud. When Belle bent down to pick it up, he placed his foot on it. "…like me."

She picked up her book, pulled out a napkin from her pocket and wiped it. "Gaston, you are positively primeval."

"Why thank you Belle." He grabbed her book again and wrapped his arm around her. "How's about I pick you up tonight and I take you back to my place for a little fun?"

She grabbed her book back and removed his arm off of her. "You're never going to stop asking me out, are you?"

"Not until you say yes."

Suddenly a light bulb turned on in her head. "You know what? I will go out with you tonight, but only under two conditions."

Gaston raised his eyes in shock, surprised that she had actually said yes, before settling into a smug expression. He crossed his arms and looked as if he were ready for her to humor him. "Depends on what they are."

"One, I get to choose the date; and two, you have to promise to leave me alone afterwards."

"Sounds fair enough. What exactly do you have in mind?"

"This." She pulled out the flyer and held it up in front of his face. "Or can you not read?"

"I know how read!" he remarked, snatching the flyer and skimming it. "A freak show? The one night I finally have you all to myself and you want to go to a freak show?"

"Yes," Belle answered sternly, grabbing it out of his hands.

Gaston softened up and went back to that same smug look. "You know what? That doesn't sound too bad."

"Really?" Belle asked in shock.

"Yeah, it'll be fun to watch those freaks of nature make idiots of themselves. I could use a good laugh."

Belle wasn't happy with his point of view on the show, but if it meant getting rid of him for good then she just had to deal with it. "And it's just the show. No dinner, no going to anyone's home, nothing else. You pick me up, we go, and you bring me home, that's it."

"Alright, fine," he replied begrudgingly.

"Pick me up at seven." With that she walked away. She couldn't wait for the night, using Gaston to kill two birds with one stone.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as night fell, Quasimodo put on an old cloak that had been lying around the tower, grabbed the crumpled up flyer, and headed out. He knew that he had to go to the show to see others like him, even if it meant disobeying his master. Besides, he figured that it wouldn't be a problem considering Frollo's disdain for the show, so he figured he was safe from being caught. He covered his face with the hood and made his way to the door, only to find it locked. "Damn it," he muttered. He ran out to the balcony and looked down. He was so desperate for an escape; he took a deep breath and climbed over, climbing down the walls of the church like a monkey. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he ran to the sidewalk, sticking his thumb up hoping he could catch a ride with someone since he didn't have enough money for a taxi.

It wasn't long before a white T-bird with painted light blue stripes pulled up beside him. The driver lowered the window and smiled at the drifter. "Come on in," he said, gesturing with his arm. He was a handsome young man with auburn curls, a large, muscular body, and chiseled features. Quasimodo opened the door to the backseat and sat down. The driver looked over his shoulder at him. "You sure you don't wanna sit up front?" Quasimodo shook his head. "Alrighty then. Where're you off to?" He gave him the flyer. "Oh, the new freak show! What a coincidence, I'm going there too!" The driver reached his hand out to him. "The name's Hercules, but everyone calls me Herc."

Quasimodo shook his hand. "I'm Quasimodo."

"Oh so you can talk!" he replied sarcastically. He pulled out from the sidewalk and started driving. "So tell me Quasi, what brings you to the show tonight?"

"Just wanted to get out of my room for a night; see something different."

"That's understandable."

Throughout the entire car ride, Quasimodo couldn't help but look out the window. He had never seen the world pass by him so quickly before. As they ventured out of the city and into the countryside he was captivated by all the emptiness and nature surrounding him.

Finally they pulled up along the entrance to a giant tent. "Well, here we are. Let me know if you need a ride back afterward."

Quasimodo was shocked by Hercules's offer. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all," he replied with a smile. "Anything to help out."

"How will I find you?"

"You'll know where. I'm not hard to miss." Quasimodo got out of the car, looking in awe at what stood before him while Hercules drove away.

He looked around at the painted posters of the performers that lined the entrance into the tent. Before he could get a good look at any of them, he heard cars parking and people approaching. He turned around and gasped, recognizing one person who was exiting out of a black car. "Frollo!" he shouted under his breath. What's he doing here? He thought, I thought he hated this place! He was so sure that he would be safe from being caught here, but now he was panicking. He was miles away from home, alone, not knowing how to survive outside his tower, disobeying the one rule his master had established, and was now at risk for getting caught. He didn't want to even begin to imagine what sort of punishment Frollo would give him if he knew. Afraid, he ran past the posters as far away as possible.

As he ran, he noticed the lights fading as he was surrounded by smaller tents and trailers everywhere. He didn't know where to go, as he was so overwhelmed, that without knowing it, he began to trip, falling inside one of the tents. In a desperate attempt to keep his balance, he grabbed a curtain and pulled it down as he fell, covering him. Behind the curtain was a naked young woman putting on a robe. "Hey!" She then noticed the curled up figure before her. "Are you alright?"

Quasimodo removed the curtain off of him. "I… I didn't mean to," he replied nervously. He covered his face as best as he could, cowering away from her. "I… I'm sorry."

"You're not hurt, are you?" she asked approaching him. "Here, here, let's see." She reached down to pull the hood away from his face.

"No, no, no!" he begged as she turned his face towards hers. As soon as he saw her, he recognized her as the Romani woman dancing outside his home earlier that morning.

"There," she smiled. "See? No harm done."

Quasimodo was shocked by her positive reaction upon seeing his face. "You're… you're not afraid of me?" He backed away from her sitting on the bench behind him.

She scoffed at him in shock. "Are you kidding?" She sat down beside him. "In case you haven't noticed, I live with a freak show. I'm used to it."

"Oh, right," he replied embarrassed.

"However, in all my years of doing this, I've never seen anyone who looks quite as different as you. Have you come to join the show?"

"What? Me? Oh no! I just came to watch!"

"Are you sure? You'd be a big hit."

"Oh I couldn't. My master would kill me!"

"Your master?" she asked in confusion.

"Yeah. You met him this morning at the park."

"Wait, you mean that bigoted old guy dressed in black from the church?"

"Yup, that's him."

A look of disgust spread across her face. "Oh my god, what a hypocrite! After all the shit he put us through this morning, why would he be here?" she asked rhetorically.

"I know, right? I thought I would for sure be safe from getting caught coming here since he told me how horrible this place was. He forbade me from coming."

"That doesn't surprise me. But then what made you decide to come?"

"He kept me locked up in the church's bell tower my whole life, saying that I would never be accepted outside due to my appearance. But when he told me about this place, where 'freaks' are put on display, I had to come see for myself. I thought that if I could just see these people like me, I would feel better about myself, that I could have a life outside of my tower. But he told me that they're treated horribly, and that everyone is cruel towards them, and that the reason I'm not aloud to leave is so he could protect me from that."

"Well that's a load of bullshit; we are one big, happy family here. That audience out there drives all this way and pays good money so they can celebrate us. And from what you told me, I think you'd be much happier here. I know you said that you don't want to join the show for the fear of getting caught, but I can promise you that if you stayed, you would never have to deal with him ever again, and you'd be surrounded by people who would love and accept you for who you are."

"You really mean it?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course."

"But he doesn't even know I'm here, and he's in the audience tonight. If he sees me I'm dead!"

"Then we won't let him see you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean right before the show starts, once everyone is in their seats, I'll lead you to a seat in the back. Then right before it's your turn, I'll come out and get you. You'll be our big finale."

"But what happens after the show? He'll be so angry, who knows how he'll punish me!"

"You'll be under contract saying that you're officially one of us and that he no longer has any legal authority over you. Once you sign that contract, you'll be safe from him. So what do you say? Are you in?" She put her hand out, waiting for an answer.

Quasimodo reminded himself of what Frollo had told him earlier that morning about how awful being a part of the freak show would be. But he couldn't help but fall for the young woman's kind words. Even though he barely knew her, he somehow felt safe and comfortable around her. Maybe it was the fact that he had never met a single woman in his life before, Frollo telling him that no woman would ever show kindness to him and that he would cause them nothing but fear, so he was taken aback when this beautiful woman had shown him kindness upon their first meeting. He accepted her hand. "I'll do it."

"Great! By the way, I never caught your name."

"Quasimodo."

"Esmeralda." He smiled. Even her name was beautiful. "So now, if you don't mind looking away, I still kind of need to get dressed."

He shook the lovesick look off his face. "Oh, right, sorry. Should I leave, or…?"

"Don't worry about it, you can stay in here. Just don't look." As he closed his eyes, she took off her robe and began to get dressed. "So once I'm done, I'll take you to Clopin. He's the leader of the show and ultimately decides who stays and who doesn't. Although I wouldn't be too worried about you; you've got a pretty good shot at joining the gang." When Esmeralda told him that it was safe to look, he opened his eyes to see her covered up in a large coat. "Come on, let's go." She gestured her arm for him to come, so he stood up and followed, covering his face even more with his hood. "Stay close to me," she said in a loud whisper as they exited the tent.

She brought him to the second largest tent in the whole camp. "Hey Clopin, you got a minute?"

"Not really, no," he replied hurriedly, coming out wearing a yellow and purple suit and top hat. "Who's this?" he asked when he noticed that she wasn't alone.

"This is Quasimodo. I know it's super last minute, but he wants to join the show. I was thinking he could make his debut tonight."

"Let me see what's hiding under the hood." Quasimodo hesitantly removed it, showing his face. "Oh, he's definitely in! We'll work out the details after tonight's performance." He hurried out of the tent as Quasi put the hood back on.

Esmeralda then led him out and snuck him into the back of the main tent, sitting him down in a corner seat in the shadows far away from Frollo. "Enjoy," she whispered, smiling at him, before hurrying off. Once she was gone, Quasi swore that he could feel butterflies in his chest. He had never felt like this around anyone before, this sense of happiness and nervousness mixed with giddiness. Despite Frollo trying to instill the idea in his head that he would never find love, he always hoped and dreamed that he would. And even though he had only known her for such a short while, she had shown him more kindness than he had ever thought possible for him to receive, and for that he felt as if he were falling in love with her.

While there wasn't a full audience, there were enough people so that when the lights dimmed a noticeable hush fell over the crowd. A spotlight lit up the stage as Clopin made his entrance. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Clopin's Cabinet of Curiosities! Tonight I will be presenting you with a showcase of the odd and unusual, featuring people of all shapes and sizes from all over the world. But before any of that can happen, I can't begin without my lovely assistant. I present for you now, the enchanting and beautiful La Esmeralda!" He held his hand up in a fist and opened it, releasing a puff of pink smoke. When the smoke cleared, he was gone and in his place was Esmeralda dressed in red and purple with gold jewelry dancing with her tambourine. As she danced, she put down the tambourine and pulled out a purple scarf. She made her way into the audience and went up to Frollo, who at first looked at her with disgust but then with shock and fear, as she lifted her leg into the air and sat down on his lap. She wrapped the scarf around his neck, pulling him closer to her, caressed his face and kissed his big nose, before pressing his hat over his face and prancing away. Once she was off of him, he angrily lifted his hat up and ripped the scarf off him while everyone laughed in entertainment. She made her way back onto the stage where she flipped and did the splits before she winked at the audience. Quasimodo swore that she was looking at him when she did this and that it was for him. She then grabbed a spear from offstage and stuck the front into the stage, swinging around it as she wrapped her legs around it and slid down. The audience went crazy when the music ended, cheering and applauding wildly, throwing money up onto the stage as she took her bow. Clopin appeared beside her. "And now, here it is, the moment you've been waiting for! I present to you now our freaks!"

The acts proceeded as followed: seven dwarf men playing various instruments while singing, dancing, and yodeling; a young boy with arms, legs, and a nose made out of wood doing a song and dance routine with a bunch of puppets presented as "The Living Puppet;" a man in his thirties with the physical appearance of a twelve-year-old and a perfectly proportioned four-foot-tall mute woman doing acrobatics and practically flying across the tent, presented as "The boy who won't grow up and the life-size pixie;" "The Ape Man and the Jungle Boy," a man and a boy who were both found living separately in the wild with no human contact who acted more like animals; and a large seven-foot-two tall man who wrecked things accompanied by a tiny two-foot-tall girl.

The "giant wrecking-man" stayed behind to help set up the stage when Clopin came out to present the next act. "Now, given his enormous size, I'm sure his strength doesn't surprise you in the least. But what if you saw a man who on the outside looks like just your typical muscle-bound pretty boy, but had the strength of a thousand men? I present to you the one and only Hercules!" Quasimodo raised his eyebrows in shock when he recognized the name. His driver from earlier stepped out onstage, now dressed like a Greek god, smiling and waving at the audience who cheered for him. There really wasn't that much to his act as it mainly consisted of just lifting things and people.

When that ended, Hercules went offstage only to return with the man from earlier, only this time they were pushing and pulling a bathtub on wheels with a red-headed mermaid in it singing. "I wanna be where the people are," she sang. "I wanna see, wanna see them dancing, walking around on those, what do you call them? Oh feet." The entire audience was mesmerized by her voice as she sang. "When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love, love to explore the shore up above? Out of the sea, wish I could be part of that world," she concluded.

After her song finished and the audience applauded, the two men lifted her out of the tub, linking arms to create a throne for her to sit in while Clopin appeared onstage. "Now I know what you're thinking, there are no such things as mermaids. Well you're mostly right. So then now you're wondering why we brought her out here to begin with." The two men used their free hands to pull off the fake mermaid fin as the audience collectively gasped when they saw what was underneath. The girl's legs were completely attached from the waist down with her feet acting more like fins. The only gap that was open was the slit for her vagina, which was exposed to everyone since there was no way for her to wear underwear. "While not a literal mermaid, she might as well be one, born with her legs attached together. It's a miracle that she's still alive and with us now as she was predicted to have a very short life expectancy. Not to mention with a voice like that, how could anyone not fall in love with her? So let's give it up for Ariel, our Little Mermaid!" The audience applauded wildly for her as the two men carried her offstage.

The next act to appear was "The Beast Man," a large, animal-like man locked up in a cage who was covered in thick, brown hair from head to toe with large fangs protruding out from his bottom jaw and long finger-nails. While this was going on, Quasimodo felt a tap on his shoulders. He gasped in fear, thinking that Frollo had caught him, but calmed down when he turned around to see Esmeralda there. "Come on," she whispered, "you're next." She took his hand and led him out to the backstage of the tent. When she brought him back, everyone who was waiting back there started buzzing about whom the mysterious stranger with her is. Not long passed when the cage, now empty, was being pulled offstage with the Beast following. When Quasimodo got a good look of him from up close, he still looked intimidating. He suddenly realized it wasn't his monstrous appearance that was so frightening, but the angry scowl that seemed to be permanently plastered to his face.

"Now if you thought that was hideous, wait till you see what we have in store for our finale!" Esmeralda pushed Quasimodo onto the stage. "A last minute addition to our humble little troupe, found right here in your very own Jupiter, Florida. I present to you Quasimodo, the ugliest man in the world!" Clopin ripped the cloak off as the audience collectively gasped in horror. Frollo even stood up from his seat, his face expressing shock and anger. Embarrassed, Quasimodo fell to his knees and covered his face. This was a huge mistake, he thought, why did I agree to this? "Ladies and gentlemen, did you not come all this way to see human oddities beyond your imagination?" he asked, trying to shush the crowd. "This young man right here should be celebrated for his differences and his bravery to show us his unique physique! In all my years of running this show, never have I ever seen someone so unusual and out of the ordinary. And for that, I would like to present him the title of the freakiest freak to ever grace this stage!" He looked up in shock and stood up as he saw Esmeralda come out from backstage with an oversized crown and placed it on his head, followed by most of the performers applauding their newest member. The audience even changed their reaction, from initial fear to applauding and cheering for him. He couldn't believe it. People were actually happy to see him and to have him around. He even shed a tear, smiling at all the positive attention he was receiving. "Thank you for coming out tonight to our humble little show ladies and gentlemen! Good night!" The lights turned off and the curtains closed.

Once they were out of sight from the audience, most people walked away while some stayed behind to give a quick kind word to Quasi before leaving. He was so overwhelmed with what was going on around him he was unable to take everything in. That is until he felt a hand place on his shoulder and a familiar voice. "So that's what you look like under there." He turned around to see that it was Hercules standing next to him, smiling. "I knew you'd be joining us here. Welcome to the family."

"Thank you."

"Yes, yes, that's all fine and good," Clopin interrupted. "But don't get too comfortable here just yet. You're not officially one of us until you sign your contract. Come on."

Quasimodo and Esmeralda followed him off the stage. Clopin had already exited from the back of the tent when they heard a voice angrily shouting his name that made Quasi's heart sink that stopped them. "Damn it," he whispered. They turned around to see Frollo storming towards them. "He… hello M… Master."

Frollo grabbed Quasi by the wrist, pulling him closer to him and down on his knees. "What's the one rule I ask of you?" he demanded.

"N… never leave the tower."

"And not only have you broken that rule, but you've come to the one place where I ordered you to never go. You've deliberately disobeyed me. Come, I'm taking you home. I'll think of a fitting punishment on the way."

Just as he was about to drag him away, Esmeralda grabbed his other arm. "He's not going anywhere with you."

Frollo's anger shifted towards her. "You stay out of this gypsy."

"He's made up his mind and wants to stay here. At least here he'll be surrounded by people like him who love and accept him."

He looked back at Quasi. "Is this true?" All he could do was stare at him, frozen with fear, and stutter, unable to form a proper response. Frollo released his grip, pushing him into Esmeralda's arms as he lost his balance. "I see, you ungrateful son of a bitch. I throw away the last twenty years of my life because I pitied you for having been abandoned by your own mother, and instead of drowning you like any normal person would have done, this is the thanks I get for taking you in and raising you as my son?"

Quasimodo regretfully turned towards Esmeralda. "I'm sorry," he said quietly with remorse. "I have to go back."

"No you don't," she replied sternly. She turned her attention towards Frollo. "He's not a child anymore. He's a grown man who deserves to make his own decisions. And if he chooses to stay here, then you have no control over that. Besides, why would he ever want to go back to you if all you do is lock him up and shut him out?"

"Everything I've done was to protect him of a life of mockery and degradation, when here you put him on display and subject him to the fate I've been protecting him from."

"If you're so against us and what we do then why are you even here?" Frollo stood there dumbfounded. "You even said yourself that all we do is go around exposing people to our 'abominations against God.' You were so determined to get rid of us, and yet here you are joining the crowd, paying money to come see our show. You're no different than the people who you claim to be below you. Actually no, you're worse, because you have the audacity to claim that you're better than them when you know that's not true. You're nothing but a hypocrite."

His anger boiling, he turned back to Quasimodo. "Make your choice right now. Either come back with me or stay here."

After taking a moment, he backed towards Esmeralda. "I'm sorry Master."

"What?" he snapped.

"I choose to stay here. Everyone here has been so kind and good to me. They make me feel like I belong and appreciate me and care about me. I feel like I have a proper home and family here. I'm done spending my days alone and hidden from the world. Goodbye Master." He turned around and headed out the back of the tent.

He looked back at Esmeralda whose arms were crossed as she gave him a smug smile. She was about to walk out too when Frollo grabbed her arm, pulling her in close to him so that their bodies were touching. He placed his other hand on her shoulder so that she couldn't move. She struggled in his grasp, especially after swearing that she could feel something unpleasant poking her from below the waist. "You think you've outwitted me," he whispered into her ear. "But I'm a patient man, and I always get what I want." He then closed his eyes, pressing his face against her thick, black hair as he sniffed.

"What are you doing?"

"I was just imagining a rope around that beautiful neck," he replied as he reached his hand around her neck and caressed it.

"I know what you were imagining!" she spat as she broke away from his grip.

"Such a clever witch. So typical of your kind to twist the truth to cloud the mind with unholy thoughts." He leaned in closer towards her so that they were practically face-to-face. "Well, no matter." He walked away. "Mark my words gypsy. This isn't the last you've seen of me." He left, leaving Esmeralda alone and uncomfortable.


	3. Chapter 3

"I just need you to sign here," Clopin said, pointing to the line on the contract. As soon as Quasimodo signed his name, Clopin ripped out the paper from under his hand. "Congratulations. You're officially one of us now." Esmeralda appeared in the tent's entrance, having just gotten back from her interaction with Frollo. "Esme, there you are," Clopin addressed her. "Would you mind showing our newest resident to his new home?" She nodded and gestured for Quasi to follow her, leading him to a small tent towards the back of the camp.

She made her way through the darkness until she found a lamp sitting on the vanity inside. When she turned it on, the light revealed a fairly empty space, consisting of nothing but a bed, a nightstand, a vanity, a closet, and carpets on the ground. "What do you think? I know it's not much, but hopefully it's comfortable enough."

Quasi's face lit up. "It's perfect," he said. He made his way over to the bed and started feeling it. "I've never had an actual bed before."

"That doesn't surprise me." They both sat down on the bed. "I would ask if there's anything from your old home that you'd like us to retrieve, but I'm guessing you probably don't have a lot."

"Not really, no."

"What I don't understand is how could such a cruel man have raised someone like you?"

"Cruel? Oh no, he saved my life! He took me in when no one else would. I am a monster, you know."

She placed her hand on his back. "He told you that?"

"Look at me. This is why he never let me go outside. He said that I don't belong."

She took his massive hand, wrapping hers around it. "He's wrong. You are most definitely not a monster. I'm so sorry that you had to grow up with that asshole as a guardian. Based on what I saw earlier tonight, it's not fair the way he treats you. But I promise that you won't ever be mistreated like that ever again." She leaned in and wrapped her arms around him, embracing him as tight as she could. At first he was taken aback, never knowing what it felt like to be hugged before but always hoping he would find out. And now the most beautiful woman he'd ever known, both physically and personality-wise, was hugging him. He wrapped his arms around her in return, her body feeling soft and warm as it pressed against him. He loved this feeling so much that he didn't want to let go.

They finally pulled away. "Tell you what. I'll call our seamstress to come down here and provide you with new clothes."

"You'd really do that?"

"Of course, and you wouldn't have to pay anything. From now on, we're going to take care of you and treat you like family. Also I'll go out shopping for you if there's any food or anything you want."

"Well, since you offered, there are a couple things I want."

"Anything."

"Could you possibly get me some wood, a carving knife, paint, and other crafting materials?"

"Sure. What for exactly?"

"Oh nothing. Back at home I would spend my days carving people and places for fun. It was the closest thing to being outside and having human contact that I had up until now. I know it sounds silly, but…"

"Hey, hey, hey, none of that. Nothing you say sounds silly to me. Of course I'll get you what you want. Now we should probably call it a night. Tonight was a big night for you and you need rest." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Considering how big of a deal the hug was for him, his reaction to the kiss was twice of that. She stood up, caressing him as she walked away. "Good night Quasi."

"Good night," he replied, smitten. She smiled at him before leaving him alone, his heart and mind racing with thoughts of his new life and his new love.

* * *

The following morning, Belle came downstairs to make breakfast when she saw her father at the table reading a newspaper. "Good morning Belle," he greeted warmly.

"Good morning Papa." She pulled out a loaf of bread from the cupboard and took a couple slices.

"So, how was your date last night?"

Belle let out a sigh of exasperation as she put the bread in the toaster. "I'm just glad that I'll never have to deal with him ever again."

"I don't understand why you don't like him. He's quite the handsome fella."

"He's handsome alright, and rude, and conceited, and…" She sat down, resting her head in her hand. "Oh Papa, he's not for me."

"Did you at least enjoy the show?"

Belle perked up. "It was amazing! They had all these amazing acts with people of all shapes and sizes doing all these awesome things!"

"Really?" he chuckled. "Like what?"

"There were dwarves and giants and acrobats and there was this girl who was born with her legs together like a mermaid with the most beautiful singing voice and…" Suddenly the toaster went off, cutting her mid-sentence. She stood up and got butter from the fridge, took her toast out, and sat down, spreading the butter. "Oh Papa, it was so magical. When I was there I didn't want to leave. I felt like I belonged there. I would do anything to go back and join them."

"Well then, why don't you?"

Her eyebrows rose up in shock. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

"But Papa, look at me. There's nothing wrong with me, at least not on the outside. Not to mention that most of the people there had some sort of skill or talent, while I can't really do anything."

"That's not true. You're a talented writer."

"Yeah, but I can't be put on display for that. What could I do, read my stories out loud?"

"I'm not saying you join the actual show, I just mean that you should go back and make yourself part of their troupe. I know that being social isn't exactly your strongest suit, and I know how you've always felt like a bit of a loner, but what if you went back and befriended them? You could even learn about them and write their stories, proving to the world that these so called 'freaks' are really just ordinary people."

"You know what? I think I might just do it."

* * *

Back at the camp, Esmeralda was in the dining tent loading a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Before she could walk away she saw a hand grab a slice of bacon right off the plate from behind her. She turned around and gasped, finding the perpetrator to be Hercules. "So where's our new pal?" he asked, taking a bite.

"Probably still in his tent. Poor thing's had a rough night, so I was going to bring him breakfast. Wanna join me?"

"Sure. I'd love to get to know the guy better."

"By the way, you guys seem to have met before," she said as they walked together. "Considering he's never left his tower before last night, how would you know each other?"

"How do you think he got here in the first place? I was driving by when I saw him on the sidewalk hitchhiking, so I decided to pull over and give him a ride. And wouldn't you know it he was coming here."

When they arrived, Esmeralda stood at the entrance. "Quasi? Can I come in?"

"Yes," his voice called from inside.

She walked in to find him sitting at the foot of his bed. "I brought you breakfast. Considering all the abuse you've suffered, I wouldn't be surprised if that included malnourishment too."

"Oh no, Frollo brought me food all the time. He needed me to be healthy and strong so I could ring the bells."

Esmeralda set the plate down. "How come you don't want to join us outside?"

"Honestly, I'm too scared," he replied nervously. "What if they don't like me?"

"Quasi, they'll love you. I promised you that no one would mistreat you here and I meant it. Everyone's dying to meet you. Besides, you've already got a friend outside here who came to see you."

Hercules came in. "Hey Quasi."

"Hercules!" he exclaimed excitedly. Herc's arms were wide open, expecting a hug from Quasimodo. While he preferred hugging Esmeralda, he enjoyed his embrace too, although his large muscles weren't exactly the most comfortable.

"How're you doing buddy? You like it here so far?"

"I love it. So far everyone has been so kind to me."

"All the more reason for you to go outside and officially meet everyone," Esmeralda said.

"You know what? I'll do it!"

Once they were outside, he paused at the entrance of the dining tent. "I change my mind, I can't do this."

He tried to turn around and leave, but the other two grabbed his arms and stopped him. "It's too late now," Esmeralda said, "You're doing this. Besides, like I said, there's nothing to be scared of." The three of them made their way into the tent where about half of the performers were still eating breakfast. "Everyone!" she called out, capturing their attention. "I know we sort of just threw him in at the last minute last night, but I wanted to officially introduce you to our newest member, Quasimodo!"

There was an awkward pause before the redhead girl wheeled over to them. "Hi," she said, putting her hand out towards him. "I'm Ariel." Quasi carefully shook her dainty little hand, afraid that he would crush it in his massive one.

She was followed by the dark-skinned jungle boy who approached him apprehensively. "Balloo?" he asked cautiously.

Quasi was confused by his question. "Balloo," Esmeralda responded, nodding her head and smiling. The boy's face lit up and reached in for a hug. "We assume that 'balloo' means 'friend' to him," she whispered.

Once the boy let go, he pointed to himself. "Mowgli."

Quasi looked over at Esmeralda for help. "That's his name."

"Oh, um, Quasimodo," he replied pointing to himself. Mowgli slowly repeated his name, careful trying to get it right. Once he got Quasi's approval, he smiled.

"Hey mister," a nasally high-pitched voice said. He looked down to see the tiny girl standing before her. Seeing her up-close, if he didn't know any better he would've assumed that she were some sort of porcelain doll due to her size. "Why do you look all weird like that?"

"Vanellope!" another voice shouted. The giant man approached them, lifting her up by the back neck of her top so that she was at eye-level with him. "What did I say about asking stuff like that?" he scolded.

She glanced back over at Quasi. "Sorry," she said in a somewhat forced tone.

"You'll have to forgive her," he said, placing her on his shoulder. "She isn't exactly the best when it comes to tact." He bent over, placing his hand out. "I'm Ralph." Quasi couldn't help but stare at his hand for a moment before shaking it. Never in his life did he imagine that anyone would have hands bigger than his. "And this little gutter-snipe right here is Vanellope."

The next person to come up and introduce himself was the male acrobat. "The name's Peter. Peter Pan."

As Quasi shook his hand, he couldn't help but notice the wedding ring on his finger. "You're married?"

"Yeah, although the missus is still asleep. She hasn't been feeling very well lately."

"Who is she?"

"My partner in crime, Tinker Bell. You saw her last night at the show, she was the little blonde lady I did my routine with."

"Wow, so you really aren't a kid?"

"Of course not. What year were you born in?"

"Nineteen-thirty-two. Why?"

"That was the year I ran away from home and first joined the circus. I was twelve years old. My family was already dirt poor, so of course the Great Depression didn't help. My parents wanted me to go to work so we could make more money, but I didn't want to because working meant having to grow up and not have any more fun for the rest of my life. So when the circus came to town, I left and never looked back."

Before Quasi knew it, about half of the performers had gone up to introduce themselves. And just like Esmeralda had told him, they all treated him with kindness and accepting. Never in his life had he felt like he belonged anywhere until that very moment.

While the commotion was happening, Peter managed to slip away back to his tent. "Tink?" he called out. "Are you in here?" He looked around, but the tent was empty. He frantically ran outside looking for her, when he heard a noise from one of the bathroom outhouses. "Tink, you in there?" he asked knocking on the door. His only response was the sound of throwing up inside. After about a minute, the small blonde staggered out, looking pale and sickly. "Tink, are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he helped her back to their tent. "Come on, I'll call a doctor."

About an hour later, Peter paced outside in the waiting room of the doctor's office while Tinker Bell was being looked at. When the doctor came out, Peter looked at him desperately. "Is everything okay?"

"Don't worry, she's fine. She just has morning sickness."

"Morning sickness? But that means…"

He looked over at Tinker Bell who was now standing in the doorway, her hands on her stomach. "Peter," she signed. "I'm pregnant."


	4. Chapter 4

Peter pulled up into the parking lot as Hercules came walking out to his car. He looked up upon hearing Peter slam the door with a distressed look on his face. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Tink just has stomach problems," he said angrily storming off. Tinker Bell looked offended before smacking his arm. "And she's on her period." Her face practically turned red as she followed him.

Once they got back to their tent, Tinker Bell grabbed Peter's shoulder and forcefully and turned him around. "What the hell was that about?" she signed angrily.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, pulling out of her grip. "I'm so freaking happy about this wonderful news!" he shouted sarcastically.

"Don't act so surprised about this. Considering how often we do it, you should be surprised that it hasn't happened sooner."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I don't want to be a father?"

"You should've thought about that before doing me without a condom."

"I didn't think this would happen!"

"Well it has, so you have nine months to get your shit together and grow the fuck up!"

"I can't! Look at me! I refuse to grow up! I'm not, nor will I ever be, father material. Come on." He grabbed Tinker Bell's wrist and started pulling on her arm. "We're going to get a coat hanger and get rid of that thing growing inside you before anything else happens."

Tinker Bell pulled out of his grip and hit him against his arm. "No!"

"What? Why not? Don't you want our lives to go back to normal?"

"Honestly, I kind of like the idea of having a kid."

"What?" he shouted in surprise.

"I never wanted to go out of my way to become a mother, but now that it's happening, I kind of like it."

"But I never wanted kids!"

"I didn't either. But think about what it'll be like for us to work together and raise a child. We could train them to become an acrobat like us and turn it into a family act. Besides, think about how tiny and cute it'll be, considering our genetics."

"I don't care how cute it'll be. I came here so I could have the freedom of adult responsibilities. If I wanted to deal with that, I would've never left home in the first place."

"You say that you don't want to grow up, yet you still married me."

"That's different. I love you."

"You never expected to fall in love, did you?"

"Never."

"And look at us now. Before you know it, you'll be saying the same thing about our baby."

Peter sighed and walked away. "I'm sorry Tink. I need to be alone for a while and think about this."

* * *

Hercules was making his way back to the grounds after running errands when he heard a scream in the distance. Immediately he changed his route and drove over to the source of the scream. As soon as he couldn't drive any further he got out of his car and made his way over. He could hear two voices, a man and a woman, and as he approached them they became clearer. He peeked through a bush to see a large, bald, shirtless muscular man with a long black beard and long black hair from the back of his neck, and an extremely thin young woman with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a purple dress. The man was chasing the woman as she tripped into the lake trying to run from him. "Not so fast sweetheart," he said as he grabbed her and lifted her up over his shoulder.

"I swear Nessus, put me down or I'll…" she shouted as she struggled, punching and kicking him.

"I like them fiery," he said, cutting her off.

Hercules couldn't stand to see women being treated in such a way, so he stomped over to them. "Halt!" The two of them stopped their struggle to look over at him.

Still carrying the girl over his shoulder, Nessus made his way over to Hercules, towering over him, shoving his face into Hercules's. "Step aside, pretty boy."

"Pardon me my good, uh, sir. I'll have to ask you to release that young…"

"Keep moving junior."

"…Lady." He stopped in confusion. "But, you… Aren't you a damsel in distress?"

"I'm a damsel," she struggled out of his grip, "I'm in distress, I can handle this. I have a nice day."

Hercules cleared his throat. "Mam, I'm afraid you're maybe too close to the situation to realize…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Nessus punched him in the face, knocking him down into the lake. As he fell down, Nessus laughed triumphantly. However he was cut off when Hercules got up and punched him in the stomach, causing him to let go of the woman, who fell into the lake. She emerged from the water, soaking wet and coughing, her hair completely covering her face. "Gee miss, I'm really sorry," Hercules said, carrying her and gently placing her down on a giant tree branch just above the ground. "That was dumb."

"Yeah," she responded, parting the hair from her face.

They both looked up to see Nessus returning. "Excuse me," Hercules said as he ran off while the girl squeezed the water from her hair. She watched as Hercules beat up Nessus, knocking his unconscious body head first into the lake. When he looked over at her, she was now standing bent over the lake, still squeezing her hair. He approached her. "Are you alright miss, uh…"

The girl whipped up, splashing his face with her hair. "Megara." She squeezed her shoe to get the water out. "My friends call me Meg, at least they would if I had any friends. So…" she smacked him in the chest with her shoe, handing it to him. "Did they give you a name with all those rippling pectorals?" Hercules tried to answer, but he was awestruck at her radiant beauty. All that came out were incoherent sounds trying to make words. "Are you always this articulate?" she asked as she took her shoe back and walked away.

"Hercules. My…" he cleared his throat, "my name is Hercules."

Meg sat down. "I think I prefer Wonder Boy." She bent down as she put her shoe back on.

"So, how did you get mixed up with the…"

"Drowning pinhead? Well you know how men are, they think 'no' means 'yes' and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours.'" She started to walk away again. "Well, thanks for everything Herc, it's been a real slice." She soluted him before turning around.

"Wait!" She stopped. "Um, can I give you a ride?"

She paused for a moment before shrugging and giving in. "Sure, why not."

"Great! Um, where to?"

"Home would be nice."

"And where's that?"

"I'll show you the way."

They more or less drove in silence with the exception of Meg giving directions. Never before had Hercules been this scared or tongue-tied to talk to anyone while Meg seemed to be more focused on her surroundings. He cleared his throat. "You know, I'm a circus performer."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I would love to see you in the audience one night if you want. I can even get you a free ticket."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a strong man."

"Huh, interesting."

"So what do you say?"

"I'll think about it."

She finally had him pull up in front of a dark, shabby, run-down apartment complex. "Well, this is my stop. Thanks for the ride."

"This is your home?" he asked in a mixture of shock and disgust.

"It's hard to afford anything better when you have little to no money."

"Well if you want, you can visit me at my trailer any time. You don't have to see the show to come down there. It really is a nice little area, with rides and a lake and…"

"It's okay. Like I said, I'll think about it."

"At least take this." He pulled out one of the flyers from his glove compartment, handing it to her.

"Thanks." She folded it up and put it in her purse.

"Would you like me to walk you inside?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright. I'm a big, tough girl. I tie my own shoes and everything." Meg smiled coyly, playfully punching him in the face. She got out of the car and walked away, waving at him. "Bye bye Wonder Boy."

"Bye," he waved back, his face smitten with a lovesick look. He drove off. "She's something," he said to himself.

Inside the building, Meg pulled out her key and silently opened the front door to her apartment, sneaking in as quietly as possible. "Oh Meg," came a malicious voice, along with the rustling of a newspaper.

"God damn it," she muttered under her breath.

She looked up to see the source of the voice place down his newspaper, smiling wickedly at her. The man appeared to be in his forties, with a long face and a big build, his hair oily from all the grease in it. He held his hand up, gesturing with his finger for her to approach him. "Meg, my little flower, my little bird, my little nutmeg. So how did our little negotiation with our buddy Nessus go?"

"I gave it my best shot, but he made me an offer I had to refuse."

"Fine, so instead of subtracting two years from your sentence, hey, I'm going to add two on, okay? You had your best shot."

She walked away, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. "Look, it wasn't my fault! It was this wonder boy, Hercules."

The man's eyes widened in shock. He went up to her, placing his hand against the wall. "What was that name again?"

"Hercules. He comes on with this big innocent farm-boy routine, but I could see through that in a minute," she said as she snapped her fingers.

"And what exactly did this Hercules look like? Big? Strong? Muscular with chiseled features and a big goofy look on his face?"

"Yeah. Why? Do you know him?"

He tried to suppress his anger. "Not really, no."

On the contrary, he knew Hercules's father. Hades was the descendent of an extremely wealthy family who owned a massive corporation with multiple businesses. He was also the least liked child, while his brother Zeus was the most liked. When their parents died, as dictated in their will, most of the fortune and company ownership went to Zeus while Hades barely got anything. So once his nephew, Hercules, was born, Hades sent out a couple of his goons to kidnap and kill the baby, reporting to him that the job had been done.

"Tell me everything that happened exactly."

"There's not much to tell. He showed up, beat the shit out of Nessus, and drove me home."

"Did he happen to say anything about himself?"

"Not really. Just that he's a side show act." She pulled out the flyer and handed it to Hades.

He snatched it and skimmed it over. As his eyes glanced over the page, an evil smile spread across his face. Meg knew that look; it was one he made whenever he would get one of his awful ideas. "Oh Meg." His big mouth spread out, exposing his nasty teeth. "You've always wanted to be an actress, right?" She just stared at him silently. "Because I think I just got you a gig."

* * *

Everyone was filing in backstage, the show moments away from starting, when Clopin stormed in. "Has anyone seen Peter?" he called out. He was met with silence with the occasional muttering from the crowd. "Someone go check and see if his car is here."

"I'm on it," Ralph volunteered before heading out.

As he exited Tinker Bell walked in. "Have you seen your husband anywhere?" Clopin asked her, to which she shook her head. He let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, who was the last one here to see Peter since Ms. Bell refuses to speak to me?" She crossed her arms, looking offended, while everyone looked to each other hoping someone would speak up.

"I think I was the last one to see him," Hercules said.

"And when was that?"

"This morning. He and Tinker Bell were coming out of his car and he appeared to be upset about something."

Ralph came back in. "His car isn't here."

"Screw it, we're doing the show without him." He turned towards Tinker Bell. "Can you do your act without him?" She nodded. "Great." He pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Alright everyone, let's do this!"

* * *

Later that night, Peter awoke, his head pounding. As he slowly regained his consciousness, he looked around to find himself in bed with a few prostitutes lying beside him and his hand free of his wedding ring. The night's events were all slowly coming back to him.

After he drove off in his rage, he eventually found himself at a brothel called Mermaid Lagoon. He angrily took off his wedding ring, leaving it on the floor of his car, and went inside. While there he spent the rest of the day throwing away his money on whores and alcohol. He looked around at all the unconscious beautiful women around him. I can have as much sex with you as I want and not have to deal with any consequences, he thought. If I get any of you girls pregnant then you're the ones who have to suffer, not me. I can just walk away and never look back.

Ever since Peter was a kid, he never wanted to grow up. He unknowingly would later get his wish, being diagnosed with one of those rare diseases that prevents physical aging. Even though he did get married, he never wanted children, fearing that that would be the beginning of the end of childhood, having to care for another child. He thought about what Tinker Bell had said, but he could never bring himself to change his ways and unconditionally love anyone other than his wife. He was torn about what to do. He couldn't make her abort the baby, and he hates seeing the woman he loves suffer, but the thought of maturing and settling down terrified him more than anything.

Once Peter sobered up enough, he started heading out. He was driving through a residential area when he noticed a man dressed in black sneaking into one of the houses through the window. He didn't know what compelled him to do this, but he pulled over and followed him. Peter peeked through the window to see the shadowy figure start rummaging through the drawers and putting stuff in his bag. As quietly as possible, he climbed through the window and grabbed a knife from the kitchen. He then snuck up behind the perpetrator, before tackling him and knocking him to the ground, as well as a small table with some house decorations on it, pinning him down and holding the knife to his neck. "Aw, what the fuck?" the thief shouted in a whisper.

"Don't think I won't call the cops on you man!" Peter quietly shouted back.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving." Peter got off him and continued to hold the knife up to him as he backed away, his hands in the air. "But first…" The thief punched Peter in the face, knocking him down. "That's what you get for messing up my heist kid." He then grabbed his bag and headed out.

As Peter sat up and rubbed his face, he saw the lights turn on. "Shit," he muttered to himself. He turned around, and standing before him was a girl who appeared to be around his age, with light brown curls pulled back with a light blue bow and a light blue nightgown the same color as her eyes. "I can explain," Peter said nervously.

"You don't need to, I saw most of it." He couldn't help but feel nervous as she approached him. "Let me take a look at that."

"No, it's okay, that's not necess…" She lightly poked him where the thief had punched him. "Ow!"

"You'll definitely need some ice before it starts bruising. Follow me into the kitchen."

Once they were in the kitchen, the girl turned on the lights. "Please, sit down," she gestured to the chair at the table. He did as he was told, handing her the knife before she put it away and filled up a bag with ice, wrapping a towel around it. "Here you go." She smiled as she handed him the ice. "It might sting a bit."

"Thanks." She sat down beside him as he placed the ice on his face. "You're not going to have me arrested for breaking and entering, are you?"

"Of course not. If you hadn't shown up, who knows what that guy would've done to me or my brothers. It's the least I could do." She put her hand out. "My name's Wendy."

"I'm Peter," he said, shaking her hand.

"It's a good thing that my parents aren't home. Who knows what they would think if they saw me here with a strange boy in the middle of the night. How did you know that we were being robbed? Do you live here in the neighborhood?"

"Not really, no. I was on my way home when I saw him climb into your house, and I couldn't consciously allow myself to keep going without doing something about it."

"You were walking alone at night? Your parents let you out alone this late? Where do you live?"

"It's complicated. I'm sort of new in town."

"Oh, okay. Well I should let you go then. I don't want to keep you here too late." Peter handed Wendy the ice back. He stood up about to head out when she stopped him. "Wait." She came up to him handing him a small piece of paper. "If it's not too much trouble, I would like to see you again."

Peter looked down at the paper, which consisted of Wendy's name, phone number, and address. "Thanks."

Before he had a chance to react, she kissed placed her hand on his shoulder, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Peter could feel his face turn red as she backed away. "Goodnight Peter."

Back in the car, he reflected what had just happened as he drove home. This wasn't the first time this had happened, where young girls thought he was their age and tried to flirt with him. Normally whenever that happened, he would prove his age before anything too serious could happen. But for some reason, he didn't stop her this time. He didn't know why, but no matter how hard he tried to shake the thought away he couldn't stop thinking about this girl. She was still clearly a child, but there was a kindness and motherly maturity to her that made her more sophisticated beyond her years. There was something about the way she smiled and spoke to him that just got to him. I can't! She's just a kid! He thought. Besides I'm already married to the love of my life. He looked down at his hands when he noticed that he hadn't put his ring back on. At the next red light he frantically looked around until he found it on the ground next to his feet. He picked it up, about to put it back on, when something stopped him. As far as she knows, I'm not, he thought. To her I'm just a kid like her. There's nothing wrong about it if she doesn't know the truth, right? He asked himself, trying to justify his reasoning. Even though he knew that on all accounts he shouldn't, he held onto the paper she gave him with the intention of seeing her again.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Wendy came down for breakfast when she saw her parents sitting in the kitchen. "Good morning Mother. Good morning Father," she greeted warmly. They turned to look at her with concerned expressions. "Is something the matter?"

"Wendy, sit down, we'd like to ask you something," her mother said calmly. Her stomach tightening, she did as she was told. "Did something happen last night while we were gone?"

Wendy began to panic, afraid of getting in trouble despite not having done anything wrong. "Not really, why?"

"When we came home last night we found a mess in the living room."

"Antiques and knick-knacks all over the ground, my lamp and table almost broken," her father chimed in, his temper flaring up.

"George, please, calm down," her mother said, placing her hand over his. "Let me handle this." She turned back to Wendy. "I just want to know what happened."

Wendy sighed. "Last night a burglar snuck in and began robbing the house when this boy about my age snuck in and stopped him. I came downstairs as soon as a heard a crash coming from the living and I saw the two of them fighting it out. The burglar punched the boy in the face before he left, thankfully not stealing anything. I helped the boy out with some ice and he told me he's new in town before he left."

As she told her story, her parents' faces widened in shock. "But you and your brothers are alright?"

"Yes, they slept through the whole thing and the burglar didn't even see me."

"Thank goodness you guys are alright. But if god-forbid something like that should happen again, you call the police right away, understand?" she nodded.

Meanwhile her father went from shocked to slightly angry. "You were alone in the house with a strange boy at night?"

"George!" her mother scolded. "We were almost robbed and that's the worst thing you got out of that?"

"Yes, but he saved us. If he hadn't of come, who knows what would've happened to me or the boys?"

"What exactly happened with this boy?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing really. I gave him some ice for his face, and he told me his name and that he's new in town, and that's it. Also I gave him our phone number."

"You what?" he shouted, his face practically turning red.

"Am I in trouble?" Wendy asked worriedly.

"Of course not dear. Now why don't you go back upstairs and wake up your brothers. I'll make us a nice breakfast." Wendy exited the room.

"A boy Mary, our daughter was home alone with a boy! And she gave him our phone number! And you're okay with this?" he yelled.

"Oh George, relax before you give yourself a heart attack. Like she said, if it hadn't been for that nice boy who knows what worse things could've happened. Besides I think it's nice that she has a little friend. After all they're only twelve, what's the worst thing that could happen?"

* * *

Back at the campgrounds, Hercules pulled up in the parking lot accompanied by a kind-faced middle-aged Black woman. "No, no, allow me," Hercules said as she was about to get out of the car. He got out and opened the door, holding his hand out.

"My what a kind young gentleman," the woman responded, accepting his hand as she got out.

He carried her box of supplies, making their way through the camp until they reached Esmeralda's tent. "Esme, you've got a visitor," Hercules called. He placed his hand on the woman's shoulder. "I'll be waiting in the dining tent once you're done," he said before taking off.

When Esmeralda opened the entrance, she smiled and gave the woman a hug. "Eudora, it's so nice to see you again!"

"Likewise dear."

They pulled apart. "Tell me, how's Tiana doing?"

"Oh she's doing just fine. She just got married to a nice, rich young man and they're settling down in New Orleans. She even just opened her first restaurant!"

"Tell her congratulations for me and send her my regards."

"I will. Now enough about me. Where's this new client of mine?"

She motioned for her to follow until they reached Quasi's tent. "I should warn you," she paused before entering, "that he's really shy and self-conscious about his appearance, so please don't try to draw any attention to it."

"Honey, I've been clothing this show since that first tent was pitched. I'm sure I can handle anything you guys throw at me."

She took a deep breath. "Quasi, you in here?" she asked.

"Yes," he called from inside, before the two women proceeded to enter.

When they came in she noticed him working away at his sculptures. He looked up to see the two of them smiling down at him. "Quasi, this is Eudora, our seamstress. She's here to provide you with new clothes."

"Nice to meet you darling," she greeted, placing her hand out. Quasi accepted the handshake. She placed her box on the vanity and opened it up. "Now stand up so I could get your measurements."

As she took his measurements another voice from outside called. "Quasimodo, are you in there? There's an important matter we need to discuss."

"Come on in Clopin," Esmeralda called.

He made his way in when he noticed the seamstress. "Eudora darling," he greeted.

She put down her supplies. "Clopin dear." They embraced, kissing each other on both cheeks.

"Well this certainly is a nice surprise."

"Your dear little assistant called me down to help out with your newest member."

"Yes, well there's something pressing that I need to speak with him about."

"I'll be done in just a few moments. I'm pretty sure it can wait."

"Yes, of course."

Once she was done, she said that she needed time to design and make the clothes, letting them know once they're ready. She said her goodbyes to everyone before finding Hercules to drive her to her motel. "Alright, now that she's gone, follow me to the stage. Esme you can come too." The three of them made their way to the stage, where Clopin made Quasi stand while the other two sat down in the audience. "So I know you were wrapped up in the excitement of joining the group the last couple of nights, but at this point I can't just have you stand there and do nothing during your segment."

"You're not going to send me away, are you?" he asked worriedly.

"Of course not, you signed the contract and you're one of the most notable acts. But that's just it, you don't have an act. We can't just have you stand there and do nothing, it gets boring. All of our performers are required to perform something."

"But I'm not very good at anything."

"Really? You don't have any talents whatsoever?"

"Not really. I mean, I rang the bells back at the church, but I don't see how that takes talent, nor how you're going to get giant church bells in here."

"What about singing?" Esmeralda asked.

"Well… I…" he stuttered nervously.

"Answer the question," Clopin said impatiently. "Do you sing or not?"

"Well, I have written one song, but it's not very good."

"I'm sure it's good enough. Let me hear it."

"I've never sung in front of anyone before. I don't know if I can."

"Please Quasi," Esmeralda begged. "I'm sure you sound wonderful. Just pretend that we're not here."

Shaking like a leaf, he took a deep breath. "Safe behind these windows and these parapets of stone, gazing at the people down below me," he sang, "All my life I watch them as I hide up here alone, hungry for the histories they show me." As he sang the room was deathly quiet, other members starting to file in. "All my life I memorized their faces, knowing them as they will never know me." His confidence slowly began to grow; unaware of what was happening before him. "All my life I wonder how it feels to pass a day not above them, but part of them."

He eventually made it to the end of his song. "Won't resent, won't despair, old and bent, I won't care, I'll have spent one day out there!" Everyone in the audience applauded wildly, causing him to jump back to reality. His heart pounded, he felt slightly lightheaded from the euphoria he was feeling.

"That's our act!" Clopin called out. "Now we just need to set it to music. Ariel, are you in here?"

"Yes," Ariel responded, wheeling her way to him.

"There you are my little musical genius. I need you to transpose this song to sheet music. You two aren't leaving that piano until that song is written down."

"I'll need my blank pages first."

"Fine, go get your pages and then come back and work."

Everybody except for Esmeralda started to head out as Quasi sat down at the piano. She approached him, sitting beside him. "That was beautiful."

"Thank you," he replied, trying not to blush. "I'm actually working on another one."

"Really?"

"Yes, I got the inspiration for it the other night after I first joined the show."

"Can I hear it?"

"No, it's not done yet."

"Well once it is I want to hear it." She paused. "You're really talented, you know that?"

"R…really?"

"Yes. Bell-ringer, woodcarver, painter, songwriter, singer… what can't you do?"

He blushed. "I'm nothing special."

"No, but you really are. And now that you're here with us you'll finally get the recognition you deserve. You could sell your carvings and make lots of money!"

"But then I wouldn't like doing it anymore. I only sculpt what I want because it makes me happy."

"Fair enough. You know I've actually written a couple songs myself."

"Really? Can I hear them?"

"Of course." They both turned around when they heard Ariel wheeling up from behind them. "Another time. You guys both have work to do." She exited, leaving the two redheads alone on the stage.

As she headed back to her tent, she noticed a dark blue car pull up in front of the show. She watched as two people got out; a big, tall man in a gray suit wearing a fedora and an incredibly thin young woman in a purple dress getting out of the passenger seat. "Excuse me, can I help you?" she called out, approaching them. "I'm sorry but the show's closed right now, but we're open tonight."

"We're not here to see the show," the woman said.

"Are you by any chance the proprietor of this fine establishment?" the man asked, taking Esmeralda's hand and bowing.

"No, but I'm his assistant. Why? Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, where are my manners?" The man pulled out a business card from his inside jacked pocket. "The name's Hades, Hollywood agent, and this here is my assistant, Meg."

"If you're from Hollywood, then what are you doing here in Florida in the middle of nowhere?"

"Well being an agent requires a lot of traveling. Anyways, I was out here dealing with a client when I saw the flyer for your show." Meg pulled out the flyer from her purse, handing it to him. "And it got me thinking, why spend all this time and effort traveling around the country bringing in small audiences when the whole country, no, world needs to see what you've got, all without leaving the comfort of their homes."

"What are you saying exactly?"

"Television. We get this show of yours off the stage and onto the small screen. This way so many people can see you and, who knows, some of you might be able to make big careers in the business just from the exposure."

It sounded too good to be true, but Esmeralda liked the thought of it. Up until now she had only performed for people out on the street and on that small stage. But the possibility of expanding her audience was all the push she needed. "Follow me, I'll take you to the owner."

Clopin was working at his desk when the three came in. "Can I help you?" he asked his visitors.

"I assume you're the show's owner?"

"I am." He stood up and approached them. "And who are you?"

"Hades, Hollywood agent," he greeted, taking out another card and handing it to him. He told him the same thing he had just told Esmeralda, saying that they're going to serve as patrons for the show and that he should expect them on the campgrounds on a regular basis.

"I will admit, that does sound like an amazing offer, but I'm going to have to think about it."

"Of course, take all the time you need. We'll be back for the show tonight."

The two of them exited and were heading back to the car when they heard something that caught their attention. "Meg!"

"Oh no," she muttered under her breath, trying to hide her face by shielding her hand over it.

Hades looked over his shoulder as he saw the source of the voice approaching them. "Is that Wonder Boy? He's kinda cute. Definitely your type," he teased.

Meg turned around to see Hercules coming towards her. "Hey," she greeted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact.

He reached out and gave her a big hug, lifting her up in the air, squeezing her arms to her body. "You couldn't resist going one day without seeing Wonder Boy, huh?"

She gasped for air once he let her go, fixing her hair. "Actually I'm here for business. Meet my boss." She gestured to Hades.

"Oh, um, hello." Hercules placed his hand out. "I'm Hercules."

"Hades, Hollywood agent," he greeted, accepting the handshake.

"Hollywood agent? Meg, are you some sort of actress?"

"Kind of, not really. I guess you could say aspiring. But until then I'm just an assistant for him."

"But then why did you have me bring you to that dump yesterday?"

"We had a meeting there so we could use the location for a movie we're filming," Hades answered. "We're just visiting here for business. Although thanks to your show's flyer it looks like we'll be extending our stay."

"Really?" He looked over at Meg. "Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."

"Oh yes. Well we really need to get going. Good seeing you again."

Once they were back in the car driving off, Meg buried her head into her hands. "Very good Meg," Hades complimented. "It looks like everything's going to go according to plan."


	6. Chapter 6

As the audience piled in for the night's performance, a handsome young man with black hair and bright blue eyes walked in eating popcorn, accompanied by an old man who was overdressed for the occasion. "Eric, really, it's bad enough that you dragged me to this dump, but must you eat that?" the old man asked as they sat down. "The smell of all that butter and salt is simply putrid."

"Lighten up Gramps," Eric replied, lightly pushing him against the shoulder blade. "Can't you at least try to have a little fun here?"

"I'm sorry, but I fail to see how sitting in a dirty tent staring at freaks and eating the recipe for a heart attack is 'fun.'" Eric simply rolled his eyes as he sat back and shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

Sitting on the opposite end of the audience was Jane Porter, a young woman in her early twenties, with a pencil in hand and her sketchbook on her lap. She pushed some loose strands of her light brown hair that had fallen out of her bun out of her face, her turquoise eyes patiently staring at the stage, eagerly anticipating for the show to start. She had learned about the show after being handed a flyer at the park, and wanted to go in the hopes of providing her new and unusual subjects for her drawings.

The show began and progressed as normal. Throughout the course of the performance, Jane scribbled away in her sketchbook, constantly shifting her focus between the performers and her drawings, as well as writing down whatever anecdotes were spoken about them. No one is going to believe that these are real people, she thought.

Finally it was time for Ariel's act. Up until then Eric was simply enjoying the show while his grandfather uncomfortably waited for them to finally leave. But as soon as he laid eyes on the redhead, his interest perked up. However it wasn't until she opened her mouth and began to sing that he became captivated. Never in his life had he heard a more beautiful sound until right then. To him it was the most beautiful thing in the world. I must have her, he thought. After she finished her song, he stood up as he applauded, hollering and whistling in admiration. When he sat back down, the show continued, revealing Ariel's real legs. While initially shocked from her deformity, Eric didn't care. In his eyes she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

At the end of the show Eric bolted out of his seat to sneak off before the lights could turn back on. "Alright Eric, your little show's over, now let's go ho…" Grimsby turned around to see the empty seat next to him. "God damn it," he muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile Ariel was rolling out from the big top when she heard something that caught her attention. "Um, excuse me, miss?" She turned around to see the handsome stranger approach her. "You, um, you sounded beautiful tonight," he said nervously.

Ariel stared wide-eyed at him, trying not to get flustered. "Thank you," she replied shyly, playing with her hair. She was used to this. Everywhere she went, she was always praised for her voice. However there was something different this time. Despite all the admiration, she had never met a guy who had taken up any interest in her beyond the adoring fans. At least, she hoped that was what was happening due to his apparent nervousness. Even though she wasn't necessarily expecting anything, she hoped this wasn't just a fleeting compliment.

"I'm Eric," he said, putting his hand his hand out.

"I'm Ariel." She accepted his handshake. The moment their skin made contact, she swore she felt some sort of immediate chemistry, almost as if their mere touch caused a slight shock.

"Ariel," he repeated as they gazed into each other's eyes, their hands still touching. "That's kind of pretty." She gently pulled her hand away, too speechless to thank him. Her cheeks were almost as red as her hair, grinning like a smitten idiot. "So, um…" he coughed nervously, "How would you like to go for a moonlit stroll and get to know each other?"

Before she could respond, Grimsby caught sight of them from the distance. "Eric, there you are! I've been looking for you!"

"I'll be right there Gramps!" he called out before turning back to Ariel. "I have to go, but maybe we can see each other again?"

"I'd love that."

"Great!" He pulled out two napkins and a pen from his pocket and wrote down on one of them. "Here's my number." He gave her the other napkin and the pen. "Why don't you give me yours, if you have one."

"Of course." She wrote hers down and gave the items back to Eric.

"Thanks. Hopefully it won't be long before we see each other again."

"I hope so."

"Eric!" Grimsby shouted impatiently.

"Bye," Eric said before running off. As he ran, he turned around and made a small wave at Ariel. She waved back, smiling, before wheeling off.

Never in her life had she ever felt like this before. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to break out of her chest. She felt dizzy and lightheaded, almost as if she were high on the feeling of euphoria. Once she was back in her tent, she changed out of her mermaid costume into her pink nightgown, throwing herself onto her bed. She felt too giddy to go to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Eric. She scrutinized every detail about him, from his jet-black hair to his bright blue eyes, from his chiseled face to his slender yet muscular body. But it wasn't just his looks that consumed her; it was also his personality. She couldn't help but be enchanted by the way this boy was somehow the perfect blend of charming yet awkward or how he couldn't stop smiling at her. Ariel let out a dreamy sigh. I think I'm in love, she thought.

* * *

While Ariel's interaction with Eric occurred, Clopin had gone back to his tent to find a visitor waiting for him. "There he is, the man of the hour," Hades greeted. The room reeked of tobacco from his cigar as he held a bottle of cheap champagne and two glasses.

"And what are we celebrating exactly?" he asked somewhat suspiciously.

"Me deciding to sign on as your agent. Needless to say I was pretty impressed by your little show here and truly believe that it has the potential to be seen in a more large-scale format." Clopin walked around to the other side of his desk, pulling out a carton of cigarettes and a lighter from his drawer while Hades pulled out an envelope from his inside jacket pocket. "However I can't do anything until you sign this," he said, handing Clopin the envelope, who was lighting up a cigarette.

"What's this?"

"It's the contract."

Clopin pulled out the document and scanned it over. "It says here that by signing I'm giving you ownership rights."

"Yes, because if I don't have any rights over your performers, then I won't be able to take them under my wing and arrange plans for them. Until I get things off the ground, I promise that nothing changes. It's still your show and you're still in charge. This is just a legal technicality."

He read the contract carefully, letting out a puff of smoke. "I will sign under one condition. You have to promise safety for my performers. I don't want to see any of them get hurt from so much exposure. If anything happens to any of them, then the deal's off."

"I promise. Don't worry, I'll make sure they're very comfortable."

"It's a deal then." He put out the cigarette in his ashtray, pulled out a pen and signed the document. Once it was signed, they shook hands while Hades put it back in his pocket.

"Pleasure doing business with you. Can't wait to get started."

* * *

After the show had ended, Jane was driving back home when she noticed her car started to slow down. "No, no, no, no, no," she pleaded as she tried flooring down the gas pedal, but it wouldn't go any faster. Finally it just stopped in the middle of the road, miles away from town. "Great, just great." She grabbed her purse and got out of the car, slammed the door shut, and started walking.

She didn't walk very far though as she eventually came upon a phone booth. Once inside, she paid the fee and dialed. "Come on, pick up," she said anxiously.

After a couple of rings she heard the phone answered. "Porter residence," a man answered.

"Daddy, it's me."

"Oh hi Jane!" he answered excitedly. "How was the show?"

"I'll tell you about it when I get home, but the car broke down and I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere."

"Don't worry darling. I'll call the mechanic and send him straight to you. I'll just need the address."

She pulled out the flyer from her purse and gave him the address. "Thank you so much daddy!"

"You're welcome pumpkin. Now go wait in the car. I don't like you outside alone at night."

"Yes daddy." She hung up and let out an exasperated sigh, leaning against the glass. "Oh it can't get any worse, can it?" Suddenly, as if on cue, it started to rain. "Obviously it can." Jane got out of the booth and sprinted as fast as she could back to the car while trying not to get wet, obviously failing.

Once her car was in sight, she began to feel uneasy, as she saw she wasn't alone. Parked next to the car were a bunch of motorcycles, while their leather jacket-wearing owners inspected and tried rummaging through the car. "Hey you ruffians!" she shouted as she approached them. "Get away from my car!"

The guys snickered. "Or what?" their leader asked.

"I'll… I'll call the police!" she replied, taking a slow step backwards, ready to make a run for it back to the phone booth.

Before she could take off, he grabbed her tightly by the wrists. "I don't think so little lady." He pulled her in close to him, turning her around so that he slammed her back against the car, pressing the front of his body against her. "Now tell me, what's a pretty little thing like you doing out here alone at night? Don't you know it's dangerous?" With his free hand he snapped his fingers, indicating to the rest of the gang to continue their business with the car. He then grabbed the soaking wet bun at the top of her head, which had become even looser since the show, and pulled at it until her hair fell while she screamed in pain. "Much better," he said with a wicked smile.

"Let me go, please!" she begged desperately.

He tightly gripped her pointed chin. "Oh I don't think so." Before she could blink he lunged at her, planting a big sloppy kiss against her mouth. Her screams were muffled from the kiss as she tried to block his advances with her knees but failed.

Thankfully he couldn't advance any further as a strange sound echoed through the trees. It sounded almost like some sort of battle cry. Jane immediately recognized it, as one of the performers during the show made that same sound with that same deep, loud voice. Before she could process what was happening, a large burly figure leaped out from the shadows and pounced her attacker. Because he was holding her up, she had lost balance and fallen to the hard wet ground, knocking her out cold.

When Jane woke up she found herself sleeping on a bed in a tent. "Where am I?" she muttered to herself as she rubbed her head. She then looked down to notice the top of her ring finger on her right glove had been ripped off and that she was missing her left boot. As she slowly regained consciousness, she noticed that she wasn't alone. Staring at her was a muscular shirtless man sitting beside her with dark sun kissed tan skin. His long dark brown dreadlocks hung around his face like vines while his ocean blue eyes stared at her, fixated as if he hadn't blinked. As soon as she saw him, she screamed, sitting up and cowering away from him. But before she could make too much noise, he covered her mouth. She breathed heavily until she was calm enough for him to remove his hand. As soon as her initial reaction of panic disappeared, she recognized the man before her as one of the acts from the show. "You're the Ape Man," she whispered in awe.

 _"Ladies and gentlemen," Clopin announced, "our next two acts were both raised in the jungle away from mankind. However, they're both from completely different jungles and turned out completely different from each other. I present the Ape Man and the Jungle Boy!" A man and a boy entered the stage; both completely naked except for some form of garment to cover their privates. While Jane had been fascinated with all of the acts thus far, there was something about that man that had especially captured her interest. Perhaps it was the way he walked on all fours and supported his weight on his knuckles like a gorilla. After all her father was a well-known zoologist whose main focus was primates, and Jane always enjoyed taking part in his studies, so maybe it was his primitive nature that captivated her. Esmeralda helped escort the man off the stage while Clopin presented the boy first. Once he was done, it was time for the "Ape Man" to do his routine. He swung around on ropes and did all kinds of tricks, including ones with his spear. As he did this, Clopin explained that he was raised by gorillas in the jungles of Africa and was discovered by poachers who brought him back to America with them where he was studied and put on display at the zoo before he was purchased for the freak show._

Still staring at Jane, he crawled towards her, invading her personal space. "Stay back," she begged, pressing her naked foot against his chest in an attempt to push him away. "Don't come any closer. Please don't." He then looked down at her foot and began playing with her toes like a child inspecting something for the first time. "What are you doing?" Before she could be put off by his intrusiveness, she started laughing. "No, please don't," she giggled, "that tickles! No, get off, get off…" She then noticed him grabbing her skirt about to lift it up and look underneath. "Get off!" she shouted, kicking him in the chin, causing him to jump back. "It serves you right," she said as she pulled her knees in, wrapping her arms around them. "Now you stay away from me like a very good wild man." He began to approach her again. "You stay," she said, pointing at him as if she was commanding a dog, but he didn't listen. "I'm warning you, my father won't take kindly to you…" At this point his face was practically against hers. "No, that's… now, that's close enough." He gently cupped her face in his large muscular hand. "How dare you…" She was about to rip his hand off her, but he caught her wrist with his other hand, letting go of her face. She gasped as he inspected her hand. "What...?"

Slowly he pulled off her glove and pressed his hand against hers. Jane couldn't help but notice the way he stared longingly into her eyes. Even she had to admit that she felt some sort of connection from his touch. She thought that he was going to kiss her as he leaned in closer towards her, causing her to press her back against the headboard. But to her surprise his aim shifted from her face to her breasts. She closed her eyes expecting the worst, but he simply pressed his head between them, his ear against her chest as he listened to her heartbeat. After he pulled away, her eyes jerked open as he cupped her face in both of his hands and slowly pulled her head towards his chest. "Oh dear," she kept repeating. He held her head between his massive pecks as she listened to his heartbeat. She pushed herself away from him. "Hm, yes, thank you," she said smiling politely yet uncomfortably, "that's a lovely heartbeat." She began to play with her hair. "It's very nice."

"It's very nice," the man repeated. His voice was deep yet almost robotic in how he seemed to only mimic the words rather than understand them.

Jane started to position her hair back into a bun. "Oh thank you, I can't do a thing with it in this humidity though, it's…" Suddenly she remembered who she was with and turned around with a shocked look on her face, letting go of her hair. "You do speak! And all this time I thought you were just a big, wild, quiet, silent person-thing. Why didn't you tell me? I must be curious to who you are, I mean I'd love to…" He cut her off by placing the tips of his fingers over her mouth.

He pointed to himself using both of his knuckles and grunted. "Tarzan." She just stared at him confusingly as he got closer and repeated himself, looking at her as if she were the slow one who wasn't catching on. "Tar-zan."

"Tar-zan," Jane repeated. He responded by making quiet yet excited monkey noises and slightly hopping back while sticking his head out towards her, smiling as if he were proud of her for getting it right. "Oh I see."

"Oh I see." Not only did he repeat the words, but her look of revelation. He pointed to himself again. "Tarzan." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Oh I see."

She pushed his hands off her. "No, no, no, no." She cleared her throat. "I'm Jane," she said pointing to herself. She then gestured towards him indicating that it was his turn to speak. Once again he repeated everything she said, as well as her movements and vocal inflections. "No, no." She pointed to herself again, "Jane," then touched him, "Tarzan," then motioned back to herself, "Jane."

Tarzan gently held Jane's chin between his index finger and thumb. "Jane," he repeated, almost love-struck.

"Exactly." Jane started getting lost in his piercing eyes, losing all feeling in her body. She was afraid that if she closed her eyes, she would find herself leaning in for a kiss. This only lasted for a moment though as she immediately snapped herself out of it by releasing herself from his grip. "So, um, thank you ever so much for saving me, but I really must be heading home." She tried climbing off the bed when Tarzan reached out and grabbed her wrist. She could see his pleading look of longing, as if he were begging her to stay but unable to verbalize it. "I'm sorry, but I can't. Jane no stay," she said slowly, making big gestures to signify what she was saying. "Jane go home." She pulled her arm out of his hand. "So thank you very much, and goodbye." Once she was free she hopped off the bed while grabbing her purse and sprinted away from the tent as fast as she could, not wanting to look back. She couldn't bear to see the look of pain on his face, but she had no choice. She needed to get home and couldn't be manipulated into staying with him.

As soon as she was far enough away, Jane slowed down her pace. She started fiddling with her hair as she walked, putting it back up in its bun as she was deep in thought. On the one hand Tarzan was incredibly handsome and did save her life, but on the other he was basically an animal trapped in a man's body. Jane never went out of her way to find love, but she knew that should she ever find someone, he would obviously have to be human, and not just externally.

She was in the process of sticking the last pin in her hair when she bumped into someone. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking…" She looked down to see two giant bare feet, making her own bare foot look so tiny in comparison, and looked up to see the hulking figure before her. She let out a small scream, practically jumping backwards, placing her hand on her chest as she breathed heavily.

"Gee, thanks," Ralph said sarcastically, folding his arms. "I didn't know I was that scary."

"No, no, it's not that at all," Jane replied trembling, fixing her skirt and hair. "You just startled me."

"All right, so then what are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to find a telephone so I can call for a taxi home."

"Save your money. I'll have one of us drive you home. I'd do it myself except I don't drive."

"Really? Oh thank you!"

"So tell me, what are you doing here so early in the morning? We don't usually get that many visitors."

"Well it's kind of a long story. You see I…"

As she was talking, Ralph looked over to see Peter coming out of his tent looking distressed. "Hey Peter, mind coming over here for a second?" he shouted, cutting her off.

"Sure, what's up?" As soon as he saw Jane a mischievous smile spread across his face. "Ralphie, who's this? You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," he said teasingly as he nudged his elbow.

"She's not. I barely know this girl."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I see how it is. Good call Ralphie, putting your money to good use I see. I don't blame you. All the fun without the commitment of an actual relationship."

This made Jane's temper flare up. Her jaw dropped as she scoffed, practically feeling herself turn red. "How dare you, you little…"

She was about to lunge out at him, but Ralph stopped her by putting his arm out to block her, which took up about the size of her entire upper torso. "Save your energy. He's just being a little shit."

Peter laughed uncontrollably at her pain. "He's not wrong. I'm just giving you a hard time." As Ralph lowered his arm he calmed down. "Alright, so what's really going on?"

"I need a ride home, and this gentleman here said that one of you guys here could oblige."

"Oooh, gentleman," Peter teased. "You sure there's nothing going on here between you too?" he asked, pointing back and forth between the two of them.

"I'm just being polite. Something you wouldn't know anything about."

"You wanna fight big guy? Because I'll fight."

Jane rubbed her forehead in frustration. "So can someone here give me a ride home or not?" she asked frustratingly.

"I'll do it. Any excuse to get away from Tink."

"Jane!" a voice called out.

"Oh no," she muttered, knowing that only one person there knew her name.

Before any of them could question what was going on, Tarzan lunged out and grabbed her, pulling her in close to him and tightly wrapping his arms around her. "Jane no go!" he exclaimed excitedly, "Jane stay!" He then angrily looked at the other men standing with them as if they were going to take her away from him. "Jane Tarzan's!"

He was about to pick her up to carry her back to his tent when Ralph snuck up behind him and picked him up, causing him to drop her. Peter grabbed her hand and helped her up. "Come with me."

As they ran, Jane looked over her shoulder to see Tarzan struggling in Ralph's grip, like a child throwing a tantrum. He started walking away when Tarzan tried reaching out over his shoulder. "Jane!"

Once they were far enough away they slowed down their pace. They went to the back parking lot where the show members who drove kept their cars. Peter led her to a shiny, solid gold-colored car and started to unlock it. "This is your car?" she asked in shock. "How can you afford this?"

"Who says I can?" he replied with a chuckle. "Now lead the way." Jane got in the car and they took off. "So how did you get mixed up with our fellow Ape Man?" She told him the story about her car breaking down and how Tarzan rescued her. "That doesn't surprise me. He likes to go wandering off and enjoy the nature near the campsites. After all that's what he grew up with. Sometimes I think that what we do isn't the life for him. He needs to be free to run around and do his own thing." There was an uncomfortably long pause before Peter spoke up again. "You can't change him. You know that, right?" There was yet another pause. "It's not like we didn't try. We tried teaching him ourselves, we even hired a tutor; nothing worked. He managed to learn a few basic words, but nothing else. He may be a human physically, but underneath that he literally is an animal. Although he really seemed to take a liking to you; then again he had never been that close to a woman before."

"What about the women at the show?"

"He doesn't see Tinker Bell as a full-grown woman due to her size, Ariel was still a kid when we got him, and he sees Esmeralda as more of a mother figure than anything."

They passed through a residential area when Jane noticed Peter slowing down. "This isn't my neighborhood; we've still got a ways to go." She looked over to see the haunted look on his face as they approached a specific house. "Is everything alright?"

"Huh? Oh yeah." He shook himself out of his trance and picked up the speed. "Everything's fine."

Eventually they made it to Jane's house to find her car sitting in the driveway. "Oh thank goodness," she sighed with relief. "Well thank you for driving me home. I really appreciate it."

Jane reached into her purse to pull out some money when Peter stopped her. "You don't need to pay me. It's fine." She got out of the car and waved to him before going inside the house.

When she walked in she found her father sitting in the living room reading a newspaper. "Daddy, I'm home."

Mr. Porter looked up and threw the paper to the ground, running up and hugging his daughter. "Oh Jane, you're safe! I was so worried about you!" He held her hands and walked her over to the couch. "When the mechanic came to pick up the car last night he said it was alone and that you were nowhere to be found. What happened?"

"It's kind of a long story."

* * *

As Peter drove back to the camp, he pulled up and parked the car as he passed by the Darlings' house again. He opened the glove compartment to pull out a folded piece of paper with Wendy's name on it. I shouldn't be doing this, he thought, but I can't help it. I need to see her again. He quickly got out of the car, snuck the paper into their mailbox, got back in and drove off.


	7. Chapter 7

Jane had explained what happened to her father and showed him her drawings. She was currently showing him her picture of Tarzan. "Well he didn't stand upright, he sort of crouched like that," she said, pointing to his back. "And he supported his weight on his knuckles, see? Exactly like a gorilla!" she pointed out excitedly.

"Extraordinary," he marveled.

"It was amazing!" Jane got down on her hands, bending her arms and legs out. "And he would bend his elbows out like this and then he walks like this!" she exclaimed, demonstrating.

"Oh I see," Mr. Porter got down as well. "Like Aunt Isabelle." They both laughed. "This is capital! Oh Janey-Jane, what a discovery. A man with no language, no human behavior…"

"And no respect for personal boundaries."

"How do you mean?"

"He was this close daddy," she said as she shoved his face against his, practically hovering over him. "Staring at me!" She got up. "He seemed confused at first, as if he had never seen a woman before. His eyes were intense and focused and…" She caressed the drawing. "I had never seen such eyes.

Mr. Porter got up and cleared his throat. "Oh shall I leave you and your sketchbook alone for a moment?" He chuckled.

"Daddy, stop it. The point is he has never had any real intimate human contact before. One of the carnies said that they had tried to teach him how to be human before and that he was a lost cause, but I think I made a strong enough connection with him that if I teach him, then maybe I can make some sort of breakthrough with him."

* * *

Ariel had spent all morning wheeling around the grounds, singing and grinning like an idiot. Never once had any of the others seen her like this before. Esmeralda walked up to her as she lay on the ground on her stomach next to the lake, plucking flower petals. "He loves me, he loves me not," she chanted as she plucked each petal. She perked up when she picked the last petal on the stem. "He loves me!" She giggled as she turned over, lying on her back as she held it. "I knew it!"

"Mind if I join you?"

Ariel sat up, startled that she wasn't alone. "Sure."

Esmeralda sat down beside her. "I've never seen you like this before."

"I've never felt like this before. When we met I swear I felt some sort of connection between us. I know it hasn't even been a day but I really want to see him again."

"Why don't you call him then?"

"What? No, I can't. He's supposed to call me." Panic spread across her face. "What if he doesn't call me? What if I'm just imagining things and he doesn't feel the same way?"

"Hey, calm down. I don't think you have anything to worry about; I saw the way he looked at you. But like you said it hasn't even been a day yet. Just give it time. Maybe he's too nervous to call right away."

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks," she said with a smile.

Esmeralda smiled back before standing up and giving her a hand. "Come on, let's go have some lunch." She helped her back into her wheelchair and they walked away.

As they were walking they noticed a brown car pull up. Stepping out was a brunette girl in a light blue dress and a white cardigan, her hair pulled back into a low ponytail held by a matching blue ribbon. "Can I help you miss?" Esmeralda asked.

The girl nervously approached them. "If it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if you had any non-performing positions available."

"I'm afraid we don't. Why?"

"Never mind, it's nothing," she replied apprehensively. "I apologize if I've taken up your time." She turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Ariel called out, causing the girl to turn back. "Please don't leave. You have no idea how it is to be surrounded by boys all the time."

"Hey, what about me?" Esmeralda asked fake offended. "And what about Tink and Vanellope?"

"You're the closest thing to a girl friend I have, but you're more like an older sister. I can't talk to Tink because I don't know sign language, and Venellope is, well, you know… kind of obnoxious." She turned back to the girl. "It would be so nice to have someone closer to my own age to hang out with."

"Well," Esmeralda smiled as she looked back at the girl, "it seems that you have your reason to stay."

She walked away as Ariel wheeled up to her new friend. "I'm Ariel," she said, putting her hand out.

The girl shook it. "I'm Belle."

"Belle," Ariel repeated. "That's such a beautiful name." She turned around and wheeled away, Belle walking beside her. "Tell me, why did you want to come down here and join us?"

"I was here a few nights ago and have been obsessed with this show ever since. You guys know what it's like to be outcasts and see the world, while I'm stuck in this place all alone. I just hoped that I had finally found people who understand me and can help me out of here."

"But there's nothing wrong with you."

"That doesn't stop everyone from treating me differently. Everyone thinks I'm…" she paused for a moment, as if she were ashamed to continue, "odd."

"I don't understand why. You're beautiful and you seem like a nice person."

"That's part of the problem. Everyone only cares about me for my looks, but then talks about me behind my back just because I spend all my time reading and not fitting in with them socially."

"Well then, maybe we could put you in the show for being so freakishly beautiful," Ariel joked.

Belle chuckled. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so comfortable talking to someone other than her father.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've always wondered what it would be like if I lived a normal life. Esmeralda tries to make our lives as normal as possible, but still, I'm talking about being settled in a nice house and going to school and whatnot."

"Honestly it's really boring. If I could I would trade it all for what you have, being able to travel around and see places and do different things all the time."

"It's really not that exciting since I don't get to see much of anything. Most of the time I don't get to leave the campsite. Then again, it's not like I can go very far."

Eventually they found themselves at Ariel's tent. "Make yourself comfortable." Belle sat down on the bed as Ariel pushed herself out of the chair to sit beside her. "So Belle, tell me all about yourself. I want to know everything."

Belle raised her perfectly trim eyebrows in shock. "Really? No one's ever wanted to know anything about me before."

"Well if we're going to be best friends then we should know everything about each other. That's how it works, right?"

"I… I don't know. I've never had a best friend before." Belle couldn't believe it, after a lifetime of loneliness she finally had a friend who was emotionally invested in her. "But yes, I should think so." One thing that Belle immediately noticed about her new friend was that while she was elegant and graceful onstage, in reality she was very bubbly and perky, contrasting with Belle's more quiet and subdued personality. "I don't know what to say, I'm really not that interesting," she chuckled, nervously pushing a loose strand of hair from her face.

"Let's see… I'm eighteen-years-old, and I live alone with my dad. We moved here when I was little after my mom died, since she came from a well-off family but wasn't given any inheritance, causing us to downsize. Meanwhile my father is an inventor, so while he tries, obviously things aren't as financially tight as before. But honestly that doesn't matter to me; I love him more than anything. And yeah, that's pretty much it."

"We have something else in common," Ariel said with a sentimental tone. "We both lost our mothers at a young age."

"Really? If it's alright, may I ask what happened?"

"I was about three or four, my family and I were playing in the park one day. It started getting dark so we decided to go home. We had parked across the street, and as we were walking a car came speeding by. We made a run for it, but my sister had twisted her ankle so she had a hard time walking. With the car quickly approaching, my mom pushed her out of the way, resulting in her getting hit and being killed upon impact. To add insult to injury, the driver simply kept on driving, swerving around her dead body."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, but don't worry about it." Ariel picked herself right back up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to become a downer about myself. I want to keep hearing more about you."

"Okay, well," she continued apprehensively, "Like I said, there really isn't that much to say about me. I spend most of my time reading books just because the people and places and events I read about are a lot more interesting than anything in reality. That is until you guys came to town."

"Well I can assure you that the people here aren't any more interesting than the ones you deal with on a normal basis. We just happen to look different."

"Well since you did mention it, there was something I was kind of hoping to ask you."

"Sure, what?"

"You see I love getting lost in books so much that I always wanted to be an author and create my own fantasy and adventures. But I'm not very good at coming up with original ideas, so when I first heard about you guys and saw the show, I was hoping to gain some inspiration. But after watching you, now I want to write about everyone here and tell all of your stories so that readers will know that while you all look like something out of a fantasy, you're all in fact real people with real lives. And I was hoping that maybe you could help me."

"Of course, I'd love to!"

* * *

Wendy was in her room doing homework when she heard her father call her from downstairs. When she rushed down he held an envelope in his hand and didn't seem too happy. "What's wrong father?" she asked, noticing the distressed look on his face.

"It seems you've gotten a letter from this mysterious boy," he replied, handing her the note. She looked at the envelope with only her name written on it, her heart beating against her chest. She hadn't heard anything from him since the night they met, and she was starting to lose hope of ever hearing from him again.

She ran back upstairs to her room, flopped onto her bed, and ripped the envelope open to read the letter inside. "Dear Wendy, I know our first meeting was short and brief, but ever since we parted ways I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I'm hoping that if it's not too much trouble, if you'd allow me to take you out to dinner Saturday night at 5:00. I know it's kind of early, but I have to meet a 7:30 curfew at home; I'm sure you understand. I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully seeing you again. Peter." Under his signature was his phone number written out.

Without a moment's hesitation, Wendy reached for her phone and dialed the number. After three rings she was about to give up to try again later when she heard a familiar voice on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hello, Peter? It's Wendy," she said trembling with excitement.

"Oh hi," he replied, almost shocked to actually hear from her. "I see you got the note?"

"Yup, and I accept!"

"Great! See you then." Peter hung up, grateful that Tink wasn't in the tent during this time.

On the other end, Wendy immediately dialed a different number. "Hey Alice, guess what? Remember that boy I told you about? We're going out on a date Saturday night! I'm going on my first date!"


	8. Chapter 8

Belle pulled out her pen and notepad from her brown purse. "Alright Ariel, tell me all about yourself."

"Okay, well I'm sixteen, and I was the youngest out of seven sisters."

"Wow, seven?"

"Yup. I already told you what happened to my mom, so my dad and sisters pretty much raised me."

"Were you the only one in your family with your… well… condition?"

"Yup. According to my dad, when my parents asked the doctor if he could separate my legs he said that there was a chance I wouldn't make it out alive, so they decided against it. In fact apparently I wasn't supposed to live past the age of ten, but here I am. But yeah, they never treated me any differently. As long as I stayed in my wheelchair and wore floor-length skirts and dresses, then no one knew."

"Then how did you join the freak show?"

"When I was eight years old the show came to town and my dad took me. I remember thinking that I belonged up there with them, so before the show ended, I snuck off to go backstage. When I was there I met Esmeralda, showed her my legs, and told her I could sing. She was so impressed with my legs that she ran to get Clopin when my dad came looking for me. He was about to wheel me away when the two of them came back, saying that they wanted me to be in the show. My dad was hesitant, but Clopin reassured him that I would be in good hands. After that we said goodbye, and I've been part of the show ever since."

"Are you still in touch with your family?"

"Of course. We write to each other and talk on the phone all the time."

"Do you know if your dad ever regrets letting you go?"

"He does, but he knows that I'm better off here. Back home I felt so overprotected and didn't really have any friends since I was home schooled. At least here I'm able to have somewhat of a life and show off my talent to everyone."

"How did you start singing by the way? You seriously have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard."

Ariel blushed. "Thanks. Well, music was always important to my family. When I was little my dad hired a music teacher to teach all of us how to sing, but apparently I had the most talent out of all of my sisters. So I was given private lessons in both singing and piano."

Belle looked over her notes to find that everything she needed was written down. "Thanks, I think I have everything I need."

"No problem." Ariel replied with a smile.

"Hey I have an idea. What if at some point, since you said you don't get to travel much outside of the campsite, I took you out on the town and brought you over to my place."

Ariel gasped in excitement at the idea. "Yes, I would love that!" she clapped, bouncing on the bed. "Maybe we could even have like a slumber party or something."

"Sure, okay," Belle shrugged with a crooked smile. She was so used to being the woman of the house since her mom died and was so lost in her books that she never really got the chance to do normal teenager things like that. Plus even if she wanted to, she didn't really have any friends to do anything with.

Ariel reached over and gave Belle a big hug. Belle couldn't help but relax a little during the embrace. It was so comforting for her to finally have a real friend. When Ariel pulled away she gripped on Belle's shoulders. "Come on, I have the rest of the gang to introduce you to."

* * *

Belle ended up spending the whole day hanging out with Ariel and meeting with the other performers and jotting down their stories. The first group she talked to were the dwarves, who used to live together and work as coal miners. Back in the 1930s they met the now famous opera singer Snow White, who was only fourteen at the time, when she ran away from home and took refuge in their house from her abusive stepmother. The eight of them later developed a performing group, and when her future husband found them, he offered Snow White a contract, leading to her career. After her departure the seven of them still performed, catching the attention of Clopin and moving their act to part of the show.

Belle's next interviewer was Pinocchio, the wooden boy. He was born without arms, legs, and a nose, and was abandoned on an old toymaker's doorstep as a baby. The toymaker took him in as a son and built him new body parts out of wood. He was discovered on the street and ended up becoming a part of a marionette show as "the human puppet." When Clopin had gotten word of him, the show owner sold Pinocchio over to him to the freak show.

She had remembered the two wild boys' stories about how they were both discovered in separate jungles and were sold to the freak show, and due to their limited language skills she didn't bother to interview them.

Next were the couple of the giant man and the tiny girl, Ralph and Vanellope. Ralph grew up poor with a single mother. Unable to go to school, he went off to fight in the military before being shortly discharged and returning home. Shortly after his return, his mom died, leaving him broke and homeless. One day he met Vanellope, who was in the same living condition as him, living alone in an abandoned building, so they lived there together. When the freak show come to town, they decided to join it, figuring that it would give them a home.

Clopin couldn't be bothered for an interview, but Esmeralda complied on both of their behalves. They grew up together as part of a group of Romani living in Paris, him practically raising her like an older brother. They made a lot of money performing on the street together, so they decided to take their show on the road and travel the world. But they didn't want their show to be some ordinary circus, so they decided to put together a freak show, collecting various acts until they had enough to get started.

After Esmeralda was Hercules. Apparently he had been abandoned in the middle of nowhere when he was adopted by his parents. For as long as he could remember he had incredible strength that was more powerful than any normal man, and no one exactly knew why. But because of this, he was considered a menace and a freak, which led to him being a socially exiled outcast. But this had caught Clopin's attention and he invited Hercules to be part of the show, hiring him a trainer to go from a skinny little twig to his current big and buff physique.

Then came Peter and Tinker Bell. Peter told Belle about how he grew up poor and ran away to join the circus to avoid working and "becoming an adult." When he got there he met Tinker Bell, who had been born into the circus. As for her and her mutism, she didn't know why she had it, but for some reason she was never able to talk; the only noise she could make whenever she tried would be a tiny high-pitched sound. Because of that a lot of people thought she was stupid and couldn't understand her despite her best efforts for communication. That was except for Peter, who despite her condition was enamored with her. One day a little girl and her father came to watch the circus, and she couldn't help but notice that like her, she couldn't talk, but rather they used strange hand signals to communicate. She sought them out after the show, begging them to teach her sign language, and she and Peter learned together so that he could understand her and act as her translator. However, their ringmaster had demanded that he speak to Tinker Bell alone without Peter due to "private matters," where he attempted to rape her. Without a second thought, the two of them stole his car and ran off to elope. Apparently their ringmaster had ratted them out to the police, for a search warrant had been published in search for them. Clopin offered them sanctuary from the police, and have been with the show ever since.

Finally it was time to interview the newest member of the troupe. "Go easy on him," Ariel said as they approached his tent. "He's extremely shy and self-conscious." When they arrived, Ariel called out, "Quasi, you in there?"

"Yes," he answered from inside.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." The girls made their way inside to find him doing his usual wood carving when he stumbled at the sight of his second visitor. "I'm so sorry," he said, covering his face with his arms and backing into the corner.

Belle couldn't help but pity this poor creature, hiding just because he was afraid his appearance would upset her. "Quasi, it's okay," Ariel said in a calming tone, wheeling towards him before lowering his arms, "She's a friend. Besides she already saw you onstage so you have nothing to hide."

"Really?" he asked, relaxing himself. Belle smiled and nodded. "You saw me perform?"

"Not really," Belle replied. "I saw you the night of your first show."

"You should see him now," Ariel boasted, "Bet you didn't know that he was quite the singer-songwriter." Quasimodo blushed.

"Really? Well in that case I guess I'm going to have to come back and see the show again."

"Anyways, Quasi, this is Belle; Belle, Quasimodo." Like with Ariel, Quasi shook Belle's hand very carefully. "Belle's writing a book about us and is interviewing everyone to learn about our stories."

Belle sat down on the trunk at the foot of the bed while Quasi sat in the chair at his vanity. "So Quasimodo, tell me all about yourself."

"There really isn't much to tell. I was abandoned on a church doorstep here in Jupiter, and was taken in by my master, Claude Frollo. He made me spend my entire life inside the church, forbidding me to ever go outside, and work as the bell ringer. It wasn't until about a week ago when I saw Esmeralda and Clopin dancing in the park outside that I finally snuck out at night because he forbade me from seeing the show when I asked."

"Wait a minute," Belle interrupted, "I was in the park that day. Is he the old guy who was dressed in black who came out to throw a tantrum at them?"

"Yes, that's him."

"Wow, I'm sorry. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be raised by that guy."

* * *

"Well, that's everyone," Ariel said as they exited Quasi's tent.

"Are you sure?" Belle asked as she skimmed through her notes. "I can't help but feel like we're forgetting someone."

"Nope, that's everyone."

"But I could've sworn I remember there being twenty of you and I'm only counting nineteen in my notes."

"Yup, there are only nineteen of us." Every time she spoke up she sounded more and more nervous. It was right then that Belle looked up and noticed a rusty trailer in the distance. She glared over at Ariel with a smirk. "Alright, there is one more, but trust me he's not worth it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because he doesn't talk to anyone. If you want to try him, go for it, but I'm telling you now that you're not going to get anything out of him."

"We'll see about that."

They started venturing towards the trailer, but at a certain point Ariel stopped. "I'm not going in with you on this one. You're on your own."

"Fine." Belle approached the tent and took a nervous deep breath. "Hello?" she called, knocking on the door, "Is anyone in here?" There was no response. Determined, she banged on the door harder. "Hello?" she called again, this time with more frustration.

After about a minute, she turned to Ariel, who was now the one smirking. "Told ya," she said as they walked away together. Belle looked back over her shoulder at the trailer shrinking away in the distance with each step.

The sky was gradually turning pink as Ariel walked Belle back to her car. "Did you get all the information you need?" Ariel asked. "Other than, well, you know…"

"I did." Belle replied with a smile.

"You're still going to come back though so we can still be friends, right?"

"Of course!"

Belle bent down so she could give Ariel a hug. After they parted, she got in her car and the two girls waved at each other as Belle backed away. Once Ariel was out of sight, Belle turned around and started driving to the other side of the campgrounds, parking her car where all the carnies parked. I have to go back for him, she thought. She didn't know why, but she needed to learn about the mystery of the Beast Man.


	9. Chapter 9 (Incomplete)

Ariel took a deep breath as she stared at the number sitting next to her phone. Trembling, she dialed the number, her heart racing as the phone rang. "Hello?" a familiar voice answered.

"Hello, Eric?" she asked apprehensively.

"Ariel?"

Ariel calmed down after hearing the excitement in his voice. "Yeah!"

"Oh, thank god I dialed the right number. I tried calling you earlier but I didn't get a response."

That light-headed excitement she felt last night had returned. "I'm sorry I wasn't home to answer."

"It's okay. I was wondering if maybe one night before your show if you would like to come over and have dinner at my place."

Ariel screamed internally; she couldn't believe that this was really happening. "Of course, I would love that."

"Great! How about I pick you up at four."

"Sounds perfect!"

"Great! See you then."

Ariel hung up the phone, falling backwards onto her bed, squealing. This was officially the best day of her life. All in one day she had made a new best friend and was asked out to dinner by the man of her dreams. Things could only get better from here, she thought.

* * *

Belle put the hood of her cloak on as she got out of the car and snuck through the campground. Luckily for her the Beast's trailer was fairly isolated compared to the rest of the tents and trailers, so she didn't run as big of a risk of getting caught sneaking towards it. As quietly as possible, despite the creaking from rusty hinges, she opened the door a crack. "Hello?" she whispered, but all she saw was darkness as she peaked inside. She stepped inside, fiddling for a light, until she finally found a lamp and turned it on. She let out a sigh of relief and took off her hood, receiving confirmation that she was completely alone as soon as she turned the lights on. Closing the door behind her, she looked around at her surroundings.

The trailer was comprised of just a bedroom, the wallpaper and curtains scratched up with what appeared to be claw marks. What really drew her attention was a small table containing a single dark pink rose in a glass vase. Just as she reached out to touch it, the sound of the door slamming open caught her by surprise. She turned around and gasped, for towering in the doorway, blocking all outside light, was none other than the Beast. "Who are you?" His voice was low and gravelly. "Why did you come here?"

Belle wanted so badly to answer, but all she could do was sink back. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean any harm."

"Your intentions are irrelevant. How dare you trespass here!" He then got up close into her face to the point that she could practically feel him breathing on her. "You're the girl who knocked earlier," he whispered almost menacingly. She couldn't bear to look at him, so all she could do was nod her head. Holding her breath, she finally released as he backed away. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn't answer you for a reason? Who are you to break in here and make yourself at home?" he demanded.

"Please, I just want to talk."

"Why? Just so you can stare in horror like everyone else?"

"No! I want to get to know you."

He banged his fist against the wall, causing the whole room to shake. "Get out!"

Belle ran out as fast she could back to her car. Ariel was right, she thought. Why didn't I listen to her about him?


	10. Hiatus

I've been working on this story for over a year. Up until recently I have really enjoyed writing this story, but as I was writing the last chapter, lately it's been feeling more like a chore. I posted what I have written so far of the last chapter, although as mentioned it is currently incomplete. I haven't gotten any reviews for this story in over a year, which begs the question if anyone is even reading this. If not, then why am I forcing myself to write something that's causing me stress while overall being ignored? I know I haven't been updating as regularly as I like, and that's mainly because of school getting in the way, but now that things have calmed down I still don't have any desire to keep writing this, which is unfortunate because I still have so many plans and ideas for this story, but it's the execution of those ideas that are killing me. I'm not going to delete this story because I'm happy with most of what I have so far. As of now it's unclear whether this hiatus will be permanent or not, as I'm hoping to one day return to it. Also I hate seeing unfinished stories on here and I don't like moving on and starting new things while not finishing projects I'm currently working on, but I feel my inability to currently continue writing this is getting in the way of me moving on to other projects. So hopefully I will be able to continue with this in the future, but if not, then enjoy what you have. Maybe if I do decided to completely give up on this story, then I'll maybe just post on here what the ideas were so that there is some closure. We'll see.


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